Nemesis Rising
by Shutterbug5269
Summary: If you have not already read my first two stories on here. Namely "Transitions" and "A Father's Sacrifice" you should really do so first!
1. Not So Triumphant Return

**Nemesis Rising.  
****Chapter One: Not-So-Triumphant Return.**

Richard Castle was at wit's end. It had only been three weeks since his shooting, but being cooped up in the loft all this time with nothing to do was driving him nuts. His boredom made it nearly impossible to write, and watching cop shows on television made him miss the precinct even more. As much as he appreciated the support of his loyal and eager fan base, reading all of the "Get Well Soon" cards from well meaning fans was _not_ helping. The one from Velasquez was very touching, though he would have to write her a note to let her know he didn't blame her for his injuries. The fact that her gun was taken from her and used to shoot him must weigh very heavy upon her, just like it had on Ryan not so long ago. In spite of his injuries he felt nothing but heartfelt sympathy for her.

He had received a very lovely fruit basket from Gina. (along with a reminder that a draft for his next Nikki Heat novel would be due soon, and he should put his down time to good use if he wanted to make his deadline) He'd remembered Alexis rolling her eyes when she'd read it out loud to him at the door when it was delivered. Not to mention the wink and devilish grin she gave him when she'd palmed the card and hid it in her pocket after Rick had offered Kate a piece of fruit from that same basket when she'd come over for dinner. Something she had every night since his return home. Rick picked up his phone and hit the speed dial prompt for Javier Esposito. He had the perfect plan to alleviate his boredom, along with a surprise for Kate. In his current state he knew he needed a wing man, hopefully Ryan wouldn't mind if he borrowed his.

**12th Precinct**

Javier Esposito was happy that Castle had called him to take him to the precinct. He understood right away that it would do everyone a world of good to see him back, especially, Velasquez. She'd been cleared officially of any wrongdoing by internal affairs, but the fact that her service weapon had been used to nearly kill the man had been eating at her for three weeks. Ryan was trying to help her with that, having gone through much the same thing not so long ago. But so far she was inconsolable about it. When Beckett had asked him where he was going as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the elevator, he said he had to "double check a lead for his paperwork." He'd told Ryan where he was going, of course. Partly to keep him from coming along, and partly so he could keep Beckett here. Besides, he had to tell somebody, and he couldn't leave his partner in the dark.

**One hour later**

When Rick Castle stepped out of the elevator, and back into the 12th Precinct, he felt almost triumphant as he walked up to Kate's desk with her cup of coffee. When she looked up to see him holding her latte out to her, just as he had always done, surprise gave way to a look of absolute adoration. He thought she was going to cry when she reached out and took it. At that moment, everyone in the precinct erupted into applause, the prodigal son had returned. After a few minutes of back slapping and "_great to see you_" from the assembled officers and detectives,

Captain Gates came out and shut the revelry down, saying, "_I know we're all glad to see Mr. Castle up and about, everybody, but get back to work!_" He could have swore she gave him something that approximated a warm look, before the "Iron Gates" persona descended once again, and she closed the door to her office.

Castle dropped heavily into his usual spot in the chair next to Kate's desk, feeling suddenly winded. The doctors had told him not to overdo it, and in his exuberance to get out of the house, he guessed he'd done just that. After shooting Espo an "I'm gonna get you for this" look, she turned to him, and her beaming smile gave way to a look of concern for his welfare.

"Castle? You okay?" It was then, that his eye was drawn to the window next to the murder board. His blood had been washed away, but the glass still showed the cracks from where he'd hit it. In a split second, his mind raced back. He saw the gun in the suspect's hand...saw Alexis drop to the floor...pushed Kate on top of her...felt the pain in his arm and the searing in his chest as the bullets hit...felt himself sliding to the floor...

"Castle?" Kate said again, in a frightened, more desperate tone.

Noting that his eyes had suddenly glazed over, and his hand had gone to the bullet wound in his chest. Then, just as suddenly, his eyes snapped back into focus, but he was still sweating and breathing hard. She took his hand, helped him up, and with Espo and Ryan's help guided him into the empty interrogation room.

Her eyes were welling up with tears, as she whispered, "Javi, I need to get him home, Ryan, call Alexis in the morgue and have her meet me out front."

As Ryan dug out his cell phone, and made the call, Esposito's face darkened, "He had a flashback didn't he?" Kate nodded.

"I'll be _fine_ guys, I just need to catch my breath!" Castle complained.

"Don't sweat it bro," Espo said, "this stuff comes with the territory, we have your back." Then turned to Kate and said, "Not to worry, I'll smooth things over with the captain, go do what you have to, take as much time as you need."

Kate flashed a weak smile, mouthed "Thank you" to the man she saw as the older brother she never had, took Castle's arm, and guided him gently toward the elevator.

**Castle Loft: Half an hour later.**

As Kate and Alexis guided him back into the loft, Alexis said, "Dad what were you thinking? Going off to the precinct by yourself!"

The concerned look in his daughter's eyes took the weight out of his reply when he said, "I didn't go alone, I had Espo take me!"

Alexis fixed him with her best "come on, dad!" look and said, "Yeah, and now he feels terrible about it."

Castle weakly tried to counter her logic with, "But I was bored! I was getting cabin fever being stuck in here for three weeks! I had to get out or I would have gone crazy! Everything reminded me about getting shot, the "get well" cards, movies on television, everything. I needed to get out to clear my head, and I thought bringing Kate her coffee like I'd always done seemed like the perfect diversion."

Kate gave him a long loving look when those words tumbled out of his mouth. "It wasn't till I saw the window...with all the cracks in it. Then it all came flooding back, it was like I was drowning, I couldn't breathe. All I could think was what if it had been you lying there, Kate, or you Alexis."

both reacted at the same time, and hugged him close. Kate gave Alexis a "let me deal with this" look as they guided him to the couch. Alexis nodded at her, and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you dad, please don't scare me like that again." She gave Kate a kiss on the cheek too, then headed for her room, looking back with a sad, worried expression as she turned to head up the stairs.

**3:30 AM**

Kate woke with a start, crying out, her hand clutched to her scar, her heart hammering in her chest. She'd had the dream again. The one she'd had every night during the sniper case. As she fought to get her breathing under control, she could feel a stirring next to her, Rick's hand on her shoulder.

"Kate?" Rick mumbled, "What's wrong?"

It was then that she realized she must have cried out in her sleep and woke him. "Nothing," she said, "I'll be fine"

Castle sat all the way up and pulled her gently to him. "That was not _nothing_, Kate...please...talk to me."

As she settled slowly into his warm embrace she finally relaxed and the tears she'd been holding back crept down her face.

"I had the dream again," she whispered "of the day I was shot, the same one I had when we were investigating the sniper case. Seeing you have your flashback must have set it off..." She stopped suddenly when his face fell.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I should have stayed home. I should have .." She put her fingertips to his lips to stop his train of thought.

"Shhhh" she said, "you were trying to do something nice for me, don't ever apologize for that again. It was very sweet of you, you had no way of knowing how going back so soon would effect you."

As they snuggled back into the covers, Rick said, "I just hate to see you like this Kate. It was killing me then, that I couldn't help you. Couldn't make it better."

Kate felt like she was going to cry again, and said timidly, "I guess we're both damaged goods, now aren't we?"

Rick kissed her on the temple and said "Don't worry Kate, we'll get through this together, and find a way for us both to be whole again."

Kate turned and kissed him on the lips. "Rick Castle, sometimes you say the sweetest things."

They lay like that for a while, each basking in the warmth and comfort of the other, then drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.


	2. Blue Wall of Solace

**Chapter Two**  
**Blue Wall of Solace**

* * *

_"We few, we happy few,  
we band of brothers;  
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me  
Shall be my brother..."_

William Shakespeare  
Henry V act 4 scene 3

* * *

For the next six weeks, Richard Castle never again lacked for company or suffered from either boredom or cabin fever. Detectives Ryan and Esposito had put the word out, and the entire 12th Precinct swiftly closed ranks around the wounded mystery writer. Officers he had never met, suddenly began to stop by the loft to see how he was doing. Made sure he had enough food in the pantry. Brought baked goods or homemade food. Or just sat and had a cup of coffee with him to share the latest squad room gossip. Some even brought their children to meet _"Uncle Rick"_ who reveled in having children in the loft again.

Every officer and detective in the precinct chipped in to repair the cracked window and bloodstained carpet in the homicide squad room that had set off Rick's flashback. Even "Iron Gates" was rumored to have put a one hundred dollar bill into the collection can. (rumors that she would neither confirm, _nor_ deny) To many, he may have simply been an annoying civilian "consultant" but now he was _their_ annoying civilian consultant. He had taken a bullet for a fellow officer, and that was, quite simply, tough enough for them.

This attention did not stop with Rick Castle. Alexis soon discovered she had a much longer list of "aunts," "uncles," and "big brothers" than she had previously known about. She was informed (more than once) that she would never again have to suffer unwanted advances from boys she didn't like. Once when she had come up to visit with Kate, an unfortunate suspect whistled and called her "baby" in a less than respectful tone and was swiftly and none too gently removed back to holding with a respectful nod from the arresting officer and his partner. The Castles were no longer just "civilians" they were "family".

**Castle Loft: May 22nd 4:30 PM**

A light, tentative knock sounded on Castle's door. When Castle answered it, much to his surprise, Officer Maria Velasquez was standing in the doorway. She seemed nervous and awkward standing there. Castle could see the guilt written all over her face. She obviously hadn't been sleeping well since his shooting, judging by the dark circles under her eyes.

"Officer Velasquez, how good of you to drop by!" Castle said, flashing her his best welcoming smile. The one that usually made the women at his book signings swoon. "Please, come in!" She seemed like she would rather have been anywhere else, as he ushered her inside.

"Are you sure, I'm not bothering you?" she said nervously. "I could come by another time?"

"Absolutely not," He replied, "I was hoping to have a moment to chat with you in private for some time now, actually. Would you like some coffee? "

She nodded, and sat at the island warming her hands on the steaming cup she was handed. She was lost in thought for a moment, then fished a folded piece of paper out of her shirt pocket, and handed it to him.

"I wanted you to have this," she said nervously "it's the record that I had my previous sidearm, the one used to shoot you, destroyed. It just didn't feel right to carry it anymore." She couldn't seem to look him in the eye.

Castle looked at the document for a moment, then asked "Velasquez, are you ok?"

"You were shot with _my_ service weapon, spent a week in the hospital, and six more in recovery, and you're asking if _I'm_ ok? Oye!'" She said as she covered her face in her hands. "If I'd been more careful, you wouldn't be in this mess, if only..."

Castle took her hands in both of his, looked her in the eye and said, "Velasquez, let me make something perfectly clear, this" he placed his hand over where his scar, "was _not_ your fault. You did nothing wrong. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze, and continued, "You're a good cop. I know this isn't easy for you, and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, but that guy managed to slip out of police issue handcuffs and overpower an experienced detective. From what Ryan and Espo told me, what he did surprised just about everybody. So please, stop beating yourself up over it."

Velasquez finally looked Rick Castle in the eyes, sized him up, and saw that he meant every word of what he'd just said. In that moment, she realized why Detective Beckett had become so smitten with him. "_He could charm the horns off a charging rhino"_, she thought to herself with mild amusement.

"I'll try, sir."

"Please, call me Castle, everybody else does, save that _sir_ business for the Captain." he said with a wink.

As she rose to head out the door he followed her out, and said "Thank you for dropping by, it means a lot."

After she had left, Castle unfolded the document that Velasquez had given him, and tacked it to the refrigerator to show to Alexis later.

**Three hours later.**

Dinner that night at the Castle loft was a slightly more intimate affair. Martha and her acting class had gone out for a "night at the theater," so it was just him, Kate, and Alexis. Conversation turned to the newly replaced window at the precinct, and Rick was visibly moved that the entire precinct would do such a thing on his behalf, considering he could probably afford to redecorate the entire squad room at cost twice over.  
His attention finally turned to the overnight bag that Kate had left by the door.

"What?" Kate said, almost defensively, "It's not like I can just parade around here naked, you know" Enjoying the way he digested that remark with a goofy look on his face.

Alexis rolled her eyes and quipped "Just a bit too much information there for the teenager in the room, Kate!" then giggled as both Kate and her father shot her the very same open mouthed look.

"As appealing a mental picture as that might be, my dear, Detective Beckett, I believe I have something to show you." He said.

Taking her hand in his, he led her from the kitchen, into his office, then farther back to the bedroom. The furnishings had been moved aside to make room for a beautiful mirrored dresser who's color matched the other furniture in the room, but the woodwork had a more graceful, feminine design as opposed to the more masculine furnishings around it. Kate stared at it for a moment in abject amazement, completely floored.

"Alexis helped me pick it out," he said, as Kate beamed at him with a soft hopeful smile. "We both agreed that since you spend so much time here, it's about time we really opened up our home and made room for you in it. We...I want you to feel that _you_ always have a place here too."

As little as a year ago, she would have been shocked and angry at his "_arrogant presumption_". Made a snide comment, or just stalked angrily away in a huff. Now, after all that had come and gone between them she saw this as the loving, intimate gesture that it was. She wrapped her arms around his neck with tears of joy welling in her eyes.

"I love it, Rick, thank you, it's beautiful!" she breathed into his ear, then kissed him. She finally felt like she was home.

When their lips parted, Rick touched his forehead to hers and simply said, "Always..."


	3. Old Foes and Escalations

**Chapter Three**  
**Old Foes and Escalations.  
**

* * *

"You, you're my mask  
You're my cover, my shelter  
You, you're my mask  
You're the one who's blamed  
Do, do my work  
Do my dirty work, scapegoat  
Do, do my deeds, for you're the one who's shamed"

Metallica: "Sad, But True"

* * *

It was early in the day, especially for Richard Castle, as he arrived at the crime scene in Central Park. This was the first crime scene he had been to since his doctors had cleared him to take up pursuits more strenuous than warming a booth at "The Old Haunt". The litany of "Hey Castle!" and 'Good to see you" as he crossed the police barricade made him feel as if he really were part of the action. In spite of the fact that he was here to help investigate a murder, he really was glad to be back in action.

Lanie was kneeling next to the body, checking liver temp, lividity, and her numerous other crime scene tests, with Alexis standing just over her shoulder fully decked out in her CSU attire, dutifully taking notes on a clipboard. Though part of him still didn't like her being at crime scenes, and probably never would, he just couldn't contain how proud he was of how professionally his headstrong dutiful child was carrying herself. He couldn't resist the urge to pull out his cell phone and snap a photo of her for his digital scrapbook, to which he was met with the obligatory "Daaaaaad! I'm working here!" and a playful cuff on the back of his head from Beckett, who then pantomimed a phone and mouthed "send me a copy" Lanie merely rolled her eyes, shook her head in amusement, then went back to work, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Castle's enthusiasm waned quickly, replaced by a darkening sense of dread as he took a closer look at the body of the pretty blonde woman carefully posed on the running trail with her hands crossed in front of her chest as if for viewing in a funeral parlor, and the dark red ligature mark around her neck.

"What've we got?" He asked.

"He's back, Castle." Lanie said, "The ligature marks and the posing definitely fit the profile for 3XK, AKA Jerry Tyson, but he seems to have taken more time with this one before he strangled her." This woman suffered before she died."

"How do we know it's him," Castle reasoned, "and not some overly violent copycat?"

"Because he left this with the body" Lanie said handing him a 4x6 index card in an evidence bag she had obviously gone to some lengths not to show Alexis. Castle looked at it, and the color drained from his face, then showed it to Kate, and they shared a haunted look between them. In block letters it said:

_Good morning, Detective Beckett!  
Can Rick come out to play?  
Jerry._

**Several hours later**

Back at the morgue, Lanie had completed her autopsy of the woman, now identified via dental records as Vera Robinson, age 24. She had sent Alexis out of the room, at Castle's urging, to catalog personal effects before she began to lay out her findings for Rick and Kate.

"Though the method of strangulation, the ligature marks, and the posing of the body, are consistent with the M.O. For 3XK, Lanie said, falling back coldly on the jargon of her profession to hide her obvious distress. "I have clear signs of peri-mortem scarring on her torso and nearly all of her extremities other than her face and hands. They are consistent with tool marks from at least 3 different tools, one of which I have tentatively identified to be needle nosed pliers. Electrical burns are also evident in multiple locations. This is indicative of the intentional infliction of pain. He definitely took his time with this one."

Rick and Kate shared a very dark look between them before blurting out in unison. "He's escalating."

In spite of her stomach's desire to make her re-examine her lunch, Lanie couldn't help but crack a smile at their outburst, and said, "You have no idea how much I've missed seeing the two of you do that!"

They both blushed slightly as they walked out the door and headed toward the elevator, and Lanie muttered to the dead woman on her table, while covering her body with a sheet, "I just wish for your sake, it had been under different circumstances."

As the elevator doors opened, admitting them into the 12th Precinct, Castle said, "He must have had a pretty rough ride in prison, as he seems to have picked up a few new tricks."

"Yeah," Kate replied darkly, "and he's taking out his rage on his victims. He's not killing them in their homes anymore, he's taking them somewhere, and slowly torturing them."

The thought caused her to shudder involuntarily, and Castle took her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. She returned the gesture, affectionately, giving him a grateful look for the comforting gesture before slowly pulling her hand away. She was grateful for his comfort and support, and it showed all over her face.

"He's made his first kill now," she said sternly, as she looked at the murder board, "we need to get him, and soon, we know he's going to get three more before the week is out."

"Don't worry Kate," Castle said in a low whisper, "We'll get him, and we'll do it together.

His mind traveled back to the night he and Ryan had been held captive, by Jerry Tyson, and Kate had run headlong to their rescue. Familiar guilt wormed its way back into his heart.

"If only I'd figured out the truth sooner. He's still be in jail and this woman wouldn't be..."

Kate put her fingers to his lips to silence him, and said, "This isn't your fault, Rick, he had all of us fooled. Till Tyson took you and Ryan hostage, we were all certain it was his cellmate, Marcus Gates."

This time, she reached out to him, took both of his hands in hers, and continued, "We're going to track him down, catch him, and put him back in a cage where he belongs."

Impulsively, she leaned in and kissed him. It was just a quick peck on the lips, but it send a surge of electricity through them both. It took the two of them a great deal of self control to pull back from making a larger display, before the two of them picked up their coats and headed for the elevator. They both knew this might be the last good night's sleep they got for a while.

Unseen by the two of them, Ryan and Esposito had been watching them from the other side of the window the whole time. Ryan sheepishly handed his partner a folded dollar bill, after which they both grinned conspiratorially, bumped fists, then grabbed their coats and headed out. Mom and dad were back.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan:**

Simon David Anderson sat at his heavy mahogany desk after hanging up the phone with his inside source within city hall. Jerry Tyson's first victim since returning to the city had just been made public. Though he did not particularly like the idea of entrusting his carefully laid plans to a sociopath, his former employer had temporarily cut him off from hiring the type of professionals he preferred to employ. Once the phrase "sanction with extreme prejudice" had filtered through the mercenary grapevine, none of any decent quality would take jobs involving the NYPD or anyone associated with them.

He needed Detective Beckett silenced before her boyfriend could could manage to find anything truly damaging to him. Lockwood had managed to reach out to Tyson shortly before his incarceration and untimely demise last year. When he'd asked what had prompted this move, he simply stated in his usual matter of fact manner, "_Sometimes blunt instruments can be useful_."

Had he known what the fallout over her shooting would have entailed, he would have had her killed instead of simply incapacitated for nearly a year. Lockwood would probably have advised against it at all. His council would be sorely missed. It was hard to find solid, dependable people in this line of work.

The recent attempt inside the 12th Precinct squad room had been poorly conceived and even more clumsily executed. Not to mention ineffectual, as it had missed the intended target completely. It had, however, exposed a critical weakness on the part of Detective Beckett. She was emotionally dependent on Richard Castle. He was her Achilles heel. His shooting had also caused his one-time employer, "Archangel" (in the ten years he'd worked under him, he had never learned his name, only a list of pseudonyms) to show his hand. Richard Castle and his family are important to him, somehow.

He could now kill two birds with the same stone. Sidelining Castle, would not only isolate and distract Kate Beckett, but it might also throw his former boss off balance as well. Which may buy him the time he needed to consolidate his gains, and cultivate his own resources. Another one of Lockwood's odd maxims occurred to him, "_When dealing with a more powerful opponent, sometimes a landmine can be more useful than a surgical strike_."

He picked up the phone and dialed another number. When the other line picked up, he said imperiously, "It's a go, isolate the little redheaded girl."

He mused to himself about his previous life in Archangel's employ. He too, had come to be known by many aliases and nicknames over the years. Vulcan Simmons, for one. Though the one that has stuck with him the most, not to mention brought him the most satisfaction was "The Dragon". He leaned back in his seat, propped his feet on the desk, and thought to himself, "The game's afoot, old man."


	4. Wrath of a Patient Man

**Chapter Four  
Wrath of a Patient Man**

* * *

_"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind"_  
Hosea Chapter 8 verse 7

* * *

**4:30 PM.**

Alexis Castle walked out the door of her private school's fenced in grounds toward the stairs leading down to the subway terminal below. As she descended the stairs, rummaging through her purse for her Metro card, a hand suddenly grabbed her arm roughly from behind and pulled her off balance. A cloth was placed over her nose and mouth, and the last sensation she remembered was a chemical smell and taste as she slid swiftly into unconsciousness.

**Two hours later.**

Richard Castle was sitting at his kitchen island enjoying a cup of coffee when his cell phone rang. He picked it up and noted the caller, which was Lanie. He hit the send button.

"Lanie, what can I do for you?" He said sweetly.

"Have you seen Alexis?" The concern in her tone put Castle on alert that something was amiss. "She hasn't shown up for her shift and she's almost two hours late!"

Castle sat bolt upright and began to rise from the stool, a shocked, worried expression came over his face. "That's not like her..." Be began, but an insistent beeping on his cell announced the call waiting function, and he noted the number belonged to none other than Alexis.

"Hold on Lanie, I'm getting a call from her now" He said, and pushed the enter button to switch to the other caller, then said "Alexis, where have you been? Lanie is worried sick!"

There was a moment's silence, over the line, followed by a terrifyingly familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello Rick? It's me, Jerry. How's the wound in your chest healing?" the voice said, causing a cold terror to close around Rick's soul. "I thought I'd take the opportunity to get acquainted with Alexis here."

There was a ping and a digital photo of Alexis tied up in a closet appeared on the screen of his phone. A cold mass formed in the pit of his stomach as the line went dead. His knees suddenly would no longer support his weight and he dropped to the floor, his shocked mind unable to process what had just transpired. He sat there, propped against the kitchen island unable to move, his mind unable to process sensations.

**Half an hour later**

A visibly shaken Kate Beckett was ushered into the Castle loft by a thoroughly distraught Martha. Noting the unasked question on her mind as they embraced briefly, Martha said, "He's in Alexis' room." With a tone of both desperation and worry.

As Kate swiftly mounted the stairs, she could hear his loud choking sobs before he got to the door of his daughter's bedroom. What she saw when she entered would haunt her forever. She had never seen Richard Castle this beaten down, all hope drained from his countenance, sitting on her bed staring blankly out her window. When she placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, he pulled her into an embrace with the desperation of a drowning man.

"That bastard has my little girl..." he sobbed, "he's put his hands on my baby." Then collapsed into her embrace muttering into her hair "God only knows what he's doing to her now, if I lose her.."His voice broke, unable to finish the thought.

In a hoarse whisper, she did her best to console him, "Javi and Kevin have half the precinct out scouring the entire city. If anyone can find her, they can."

Her own tears began to fall unceasingly down her cheeks, falling on the shoulder of a broken man.

**That same moment.  
Across Manhattan**

As Alexis Castle slowly began to regain consciousness, two things became readily apparent to her. First she was bound hand and foot. (though her hands were in front of her) Second she was in a very small space. As she began to recall being grabbed from behind, the first twinges of fear began to settle upon her. As she began to squirm and struggle against her bonds, the door to the closet swung open a small way and a man poked his head inside.

"Ah! The guest of honor is finally awake! He said almost jovially. I hope you enjoy the show, I've never performed for an audience before. I'm dedicate tonight's performance to you! Perhaps we will be able to get to know each other better, quite soon."

With that, he placed an unopened bottle of spring water just inside the door, then shut her in. She could hear the snap of a padlock being closed. Shortly after that, the screaming started. A woman's voice, shrieking over and over again with the keening, banshee-like wail of a tormented animal. The wording of Lanie's report on the dead woman the other day began to echo in her mind as she struggled, and squirmed in the close confines of the small closet. Nothing she did though, could shut out the slowly dying woman's tormented screaming. Alexis finally curled up into a fetal position and began to whimper quietly to herself, wondering when it would be her turn. Tears flowing unimpeded down her cheeks...

**The following morning.**

Martha, with Kate's help, had managed to coax Richard out of Alexis room, and downstairs onto the living room couch, where he lay passed out from exhaustion with his head in Kate's lap. Kate looked up at Martha close to tears herself, she was a complete wreck as well. As she retreated into Rick's office she reached into her pocket for the small prepaid flip phone that had arrived in the mail addressed to her three days after her son had been shot. A small card inside had simply read "Webb" in block letters.

She had read enough of her son's books to know what a "burner phone" was, but had merely assumed that it was a product of her son' s overactive imagination. It had buzzed ten minutes after she had opened the box, and a text on it had read:

_**Call with this from now on  
if you need to reach me.  
Someone will answer day or night.  
Webb.**_

For the past six weeks it had lived in the bottom of her lingerie drawer. When Richard had told her what had happened to Alexis, she had retrieved it. She had spent the entire night sitting on her bed staring at it, agonizing over what she should do. Now she was certain. She put on a light jacket and looked down at the bone tired Kate and said,

"Sweetie, I need to get some air, I'll be back soon."

"Make sure to stay where the officer downstairs can see you, Martha." Kate replied in a concerned whisper, as she gently stroked Rick's hair.

As Martha stepped into the elevator, and the doors closed, she hit the emergency stop button before opening the phone. She held down the 1 key, and a young woman answered on the first ring.

"Reference desk"

Martha began to speak before the last syllable was out of the young woman's mouth. "I need to talk to Richard Webb." in a desperate, frightened tone.

"I don't know anyone by that name, ma'am" the young woman replied.

"I don't care what name he goes by now, I need to speak to him! Now!"

A short silence on the other end was followed by the young woman saying "Hold, please"

Five agonizing minutes later, a voice she had not heard since 1968 came on the other end. "What is wrong, Martha?" She stood in the stopped elevator in shocked silence for a moment, even after all this time, the sound of his voice could still take her breath away. She remembered the warmth of his embrace, and the gentleness of his touch, but she quickly shook herself back to the present.

"Richard, somebody has taken Alexis," she began, "he's dangerous and he hates our son. We need you, _I_ need you. I don't know if his friends in the NYPD will be able to find her in time. Please Richard, Alexis is his entire world, if he loses her this way, it could destroy him."

"I'll see to it personally, Martha." he replied.

As tears gathered in her eyes, she breathed "Thank you, Richard!"

"Tell me everything you know, Martha, leave nothing out no matter how insignificant."

As Martha recounted everything she had seen or been told about the previous evening, a dark shadow began to creep into his mind. The name a former C.O. had bestowed upon him after his first combat patrol that had stuck with him during all three of his combat tours rose up from the depths of his mind...

"_Nemesis"_

Richard W ebb's expression grew hard as he dialed a number on his phone.

"Signals" said the voice on the other end.

"I need a GPS trace on a cell phone registered to an Alexis Castle, it was used once in the last 12 hours to send a call and e-mail a photo. I need this information ASAP."

He hung up his phone and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, removing a black pistol carrying case. He opened it to reveal a Tactical Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, checked the action, then inserted a clip, and chambered a round. He thumbed the safety to the "on" position, then slid the weapon into a holster which he affixed to the back of his belt. He then pulled a metallic cylinder from the case, slid it into his pocket and snapped the case shut. When the phone rang, he picked it up and wrote down the information the technician gave him.

On his way out, he told his secretary, "If Smith calls or checks in, tell him _Nemesis is hunting_."

At her confused expression at the unfamiliar code, he responded, "He'll understand."

The secretary nodded and went back to the pretext of filing her nails. The firm set to his jaw, and the dark malevolent look in his eyes told her two things very clearly. First, that her boss was not going to be back that night. Second, that someone, somewhere in the City of New York was going to die.

**One hour later**

As the sunlight began to wane that evening, Richard Webb pulled up to the abandoned apartment building at 5th and Lex in his black sedan. He'd turned off his dome light before exiting the vehicle, walked around his car to the trunk, opened it and removed a set of military grade Kevlar body armor. As he strapped it on he kept a careful eye around the old building for passers by. He unholstered his pistol, and pulling the silencer out of his pocket, proceeded to screw the metal cylinder to the front of his pistol.

As he closed the trunk, he murmured, "Nemesis is feet dry," out loud to himself, followed by "action commenced." then thumbed off the safety. He moved out with a purpose he had not had in years. He walked with a quiet grace that belied the six decades of his age.

Rick found the door he sought on the third floor of the building, turned the knob, and entered quietly. In the dim light of a portable lamp, he saw a man slightly younger than his son standing over the limp body of a dead woman on the table in front of him placing a set of needle nosed pliers into a small toolbox. When the man saw him and stepped around the table, Webb strode casually into the room, closing the distance between them and said calmly, "Where's Alexis?"

The man sneered at him with casual contempt, and replied, "_What is she to you, old man_?"

The only answer Webb gave him was to raise his silenced pistol a fraction of an inch, and pull the trigger. The younger man's kneecap exploded in a fine pink mist, dropping the man painfully to the floor, clutching his wounded leg.

Webb stepped closer to him and spoke with cold authority, "I'm going to ask you _**one more time**_, and if I don't receive a satisfactory answer, your situation is going to become...unpleasant." as he brought the gun down to his other knee, "_**Where is Alexis?**"_

The man turned his head in the direction of the locked closet and produced a key to the padlock from his pocket, and slid it across the floor to rest at Webb's feet.

"That's better," Rick said with cold malice as he stooped to pick it up. "Now if you've so much as harmed a hair on her pretty little head, I'm going to do some _**very**_ unpleasant things to you that I learned from an old acquaintance of mine named _Charlie_, before you were ever born."

For the first time in his adult life, Jerry Tyson, felt the cold knot of terror creep into his soul as Webb pulled the zip ties tight around his wrists and ankles, dragged him by his good leg out of sight of the closet, secured him tightly to an exposed pipe, and fixed a swatch of duct tape over his mouth. He'd been rendered in an instant from cold, calculating predator to cowed, terrified prey.

As Webb moved soundlessly to the closet, unlocked it, and slowly pulled the door open, he called out in a clear, but gentle tone "Alexis? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," came the quiet, timid reply from the terrified girl.

"I'm here to help you honey," He said softly. "that guy won't be bothering you ever again." He removed the silencer from his pistol, and holstered it, sliding the silencer into his pocket and producing a small penknife.

"Don't be afraid," he said calmly, as she recoiled at the sight of the small blade, "I'm just going to cut your bindings, and put it away" After he had cut the zip cords on her wrists and ankles he made a show of folding the utility knife and putting it away.

For the first time since the day she was born, he picked his granddaughter up and cradled her lovingly in his arms. "Close your eyes sweetheart," He whispered, as tears rolled down his cheeks, "what happened out here is something you should never have to see."

When she obediently closed her blue eyes that matched his own, he carried her gently out of the room and down to the street. All the while whispering the lullaby he had sung her back to sleep with on the day he first laid eyes on her in the Cedar Sinai nursery seemingly a lifetime ago. He deposited her in the back seat of his sedan, took out his cell phone and dialed the 12th Precinct reception desk.

**Twenty minutes later.**

When Kate Beckett's cell phone rang, she was still cradling Castle's head in her lap. The sound made Castle sit bolt upright with a start. She fished her cell out of her coat pocket hit the send button and said heavily, "Beckett" as she put the phone on speaker.

"We have her," Esposito's concerned voice said over the line. "She's safe."

Castle's head snapped up, as he heard what was the best news he'd had all night. As Esposito continued, "An elderly man found her wandering outside of an abandoned apartment building on 5th and Lex. He must have recognized her face from the Amber alert we sent out last night. We've taken his statement. He seems like a pretty stand up guy. Kinda reminds me of Castle."

The desperation and fear on Rick's face gave way to fierce determination as he rose unsteadily to his feet, and reached for his shoes.

Kate placed a hand on his chest and said, "I can do this Rick."

Rick took her hand, looked her in the eye and replied, "My little girl needs me. Doesn't matter what state I'm in. No force in the 'verse could stop me from going to her. Or to you. It's who I am. "

"Together, then?" she said, pulling on her shoes.

Castle grabbed his coat, and said "I wouldn't have it any other way Kate."

**Twenty minutes later**

As Beckett's cruiser arrived at the scene, Esposito was still interviewing the elderly man who had found her. Esposito, handed him his card, clapped him gratefully on the shoulder as he headed for his sedan parked in front of the building. Castle rushed up to him, and took his hand, shaking it with heartfelt gratitude.

"Thank you!" he said, tears welling in his eyes, "Words cannot possibly express how grateful I am."

Webb had never worked so hard to keep a neutral expression on his face as when his own son who didn't know he existed took his hand and shook it. "Think nothing of it, son. "he stammered, "I lost my family after Vietnam, I would never wish that pain on anybody." He turned Castle around and said, "Go on, son, don't waste any more time on a broken down old man and be be with your daughter."

Beckett watched Castle interact with the older man, and suddenly felt a great wave of sympathy for him. Touched by all he had lost to bring him to this address on this street at just the right time.

Castle rushed over to Espo's Crown Victoria, and opened back door. Alexis practically leaped from the back seat and grabbed her father in a desperate embrace. Castle gathered her up, and carried her to Beckett's car. Ignoring the protests from his flagging muscles, and the fire in his chest. "Daddy's here, pumpkin, Daddy's here," as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. "let's get you home."

Ryan and Esposito shared a look of relief and concern. They figured she had gotten very lucky, and had escaped from him. After watching Beckett's cruiser pull away.

Rick Castle sat in the back seat of Kate's car, as she drove slowly back home with the police light on, but the siren off. He cradled his wounded child in his arms. Nightmares from years past coming unbidden to his mind. His blue eyes haunted by what could have been. A father's worst nightmare.

**Twenty minutes later.**

Richard Webb waited in his car waited for the last police cruiser to rolled out of sight. He started his sedan and pulled back up to where he had been parked earlier in front of the abandoned building.

Returning to his trunk, be grabbed the car battery booster pack and checking that it had a sufficient charge then climbed the up the stoop and entered the building. Moments later he was still standing over the bound and gagged form of Jerry Tyson. He knelt over him and yanked the duct tape off his mouth stirring him. He made sure Tyson saw him clip the cleaning brushes for his pistol to the the clips of the booster pack.

"Now then, young man, you and I are going to have a little chat." He tapped the leads together to create sparks. "I want to know how you were able to penetrate the security cordon I had around my family. I'm going to ask questions, you're going to provide answers. How...unpleasant this conversation gets will depend entirely upon your cooperation." Moments later, the man who was once the boogeyman, 3XK screamed. He was no longer the predatory slayer of women. He was now meat, in the hands of a vengeful, patient grandfather.

**One hour later.**

Satisfied that he had gleaned every shred of information possible from the man at his feet, useful or not. Richard Webb screwed the silencer back onto the front of his Sig Sauer, pressed the barrel to the center of his forehead and pulled the trigger twice. Ending forever the short murderous career of the notorious 3XK.

As he exited the building for the final time and walked to his car, he was suddenly hit with an overwhelming wave of distaste. Though he felt no particular sorrow over the fate of that waste of human life nor did he feel any great guilt over his part in the manner of his death, stooping to that evil man's level made him feel...dirty. The kind of dirty that would probably never come clean. Like he had surrendered one more small piece of his humanity that he would never get back.

He took out his cell phone, and dialed a number from memory. When the line picked up he said, " I need everything we have on a former asset named Hal Lockwood. Pay special attention to former associates, training officers, contacts, everything. I also need to arrange for an anonymous tip to the 12th Precinct of the NYPD. After providing the details he wanted released he gave his estimate arrival time back to the office, he closed the line and sent a text message to the burner phone he had sent to Martha Rodgers.

_**Our mutual friend  
will not be troubling  
you again. NYPD will  
be finding what's left  
of him shortly.  
Love always,**_

_**Richard**_

Martha snapped the burner cell closed and turned it off after reading the message on it. She held the small instrument close to her heart, returning in her mind to a different time and place long ago. Wondering how things might have been different, had they not parted in 1968.


	5. Investigations and Revelations

**Chapter Five  
**Investigations and Revelations

* * *

_Through trenches dug in the back of my mind  
I go over the top time after time  
Me and the ones we left behind (Faces I'll always remember)_

_Now there's no fight left within me, but the righting of this wrong  
As nations we're divided, but as people we are one  
Like brothers in blood it seems that we've been -Too Long A Soldier _

Too Long A Soldier: Pat Benetar

* * *

_Martha and Rick Sr. sat on a blanket in Central Park, watching their four year old son, Rick running around trying to catch a grasshopper with a paper cup. Hearing him giggle with delight as he finally claimed his prize and came running up to show them. He smiled broadly at his son, shared a kiss with his beloved wife and they marveled at the pure joy of their lives._

_Suddenly the sky grows dark, nearly pitch black but for the glowing full moon. The air is filled with the smell of burning flesh, white phosphorus and smoke. From all around them, the apparitions of fifteen men in torn, ragged clothes with slit throats rise from the ground and stare accusingly at him with their sightless eyes. Martha screamed, clutching their son, and they faded from his view. Almost as one they moan over and over "Why couldn't we go home? Why couldn't you bring us home?" He screamed._

Richard Webb awoke with a start, bolt upright in bed soaked in sweat, his graying hair plastered to his head. His pulse was racing. He'd had the dream again. He'd had one version of it or another since he had come back from the failed POW extraction mission in Vietnam forty-four years ago that had set him on this path. He had long ago caught and dispatched the greedy, treasonous bastard who had burned the mission, and it had haunted his dreams less and less frequently over the years only to plague him whenever he'd contemplated either resigning or retiring. It had always driven him to put his shoulder once again to the grindstone and carry on with this job he despised but, for love of country, endured for far too long.

"I'm getting too old for this." He whispered to himself. He rose from his bed and headed for the shower. After emerging, he put on his jogging clothes and prepared for his morning run.

**Abandoned apartment building**

**5th and Lex, 8:05 AM**

Kate Beckett stepped under the crime scene tape in the apartment half an hour after receiving a text from Esposito, that said _"abandoned apartment building, 5th and Lex, don't bring Castle." _Giving both Rick and Alexis' sleeping forms on the couch a light kiss on the forehead, she'd placed a note on the coffee table that had said _"Went to the precinct to catch up on paperwork, be back later. Love always, Kate." _She'd slid her holstered pistol onto her belt, then her badge beside it, and driven straight here.

"CSU found red hairs consistent with Alexis inside that closet" Esposito said indicating the open closet door. "Along with a cut set of zip straps, presumably from her wrists and ankles, along with a half empty bottle of water. Over here," he indicated the table and it's grisly occupant, "we found Tyson's kill number three. Strangled and posed before rigor could set in. We're working on an identification, now."

Ryan broke in and waved Kate over to the other side of a narrow partition, and indicated another body with Lanie knelt over it, "But what you may find even more interesting is this."

"Jerry Tyson." Kate breathed. She felt lightheaded, like she was going to be sick and put her hand on the side of the partition to steady herself.

Lanie, who felt out of place without a certain redhead and her clipboard over her left shoulder, looked at Kate and said, "Judging by liver temp and postmortem lividity, Jerry here was killed three hours after we found Alexis outside." Kate opened her mouth to say something, but stopped short when she couldn't form the words.

"Even more interesting, Lanie continued, "Jerry was shot in the kneecap, most likely to immobilize him, trussed up here with zip ties found at the scene, he was gagged with this," she held up an evidence bag with a swatch of duct tape in it, "and handcuffed to this pipe the entire time we were outside. He was later systematically tortured for at least one or two hours, then put out of his misery with two gunshot wounds to the head."

"Somebody was definitely doing the Lord's work last night," Esposito said "I haven't seen anything like this since Afghanistan. Judging by the blood spatter and trail, he was kneecapped over there in the middle of the room, then dragged over here, bound, gagged and secured to the pipe to keep him from escaping. Why go to all this trouble to bring him over here, when he could have just as easily secured him to the table?"

"Because he wanted him out of the way, so Alexis wouldn't see him." said Richard Castle, who had suddenly appeared behind them.

Kate jumped, as he spoke and turned with a start at the sound of his voice. "Castle?" she blurted out in surprise, a question forming on her lips.

As if in answer to her unasked question, He simply said, "Last night after the second time Alexis woke up screaming, she told me everything she could remember about her ordeal," Castle's face grew dark as he slowly clenched his fists, haunted by the anguish in his daughters voice when she'd told him. "I'm almost sorry he's dead, I wouldn't have minded a few minutes alone with him myself."

Esposito put a comforting hand on Castle's shoulder, "We all feel for you, bro." He said then muttered darkly, "We would have all wanted to take a number right behind you."

"Starting with me," said Kate. "But what about Alexis? You didn't leave her..."

"Alone? Never," Castle interrupted, "mom came down right after you left and woke us up. After reading your note, I made a quick call to the precinct and it was Alexis who deduced that you guys would be here. I offered to stay with her, but she insisted I come down to tell you what she told me. She's scared, and can barely sleep through the night, but she's a fighter."

"Just like her old man." Esposito said. "Now get out of here, both of you. Captain Gates, ordered you both off this case, and I believe Beckett is supposed to be on a leave of absence. If she found out I let either of you onto an active crime scene she'd have both mine, and my boy Ryan here's hides tacked to the nearest barn door." As he guided them away from "his" crime scene, he added, "Tell Alexis we're all pulling for her. If she needs anything..."

"You'll be the first ones I call, guys, thanks." Castle said with a weak smile, taking Espo's outstretched hand and giving it a firm squeeze, before Kate gently took him by the arm, and they headed out.

As they disappeared out the door, Ryan walked up and to his partner and said sympathetically, "He's holding up a lot better than I would have in his place, I'd probably be falling apart."

"Trust me, guys, he is, it's written all over his face." Lanie said, rising slowly to her feet, motioning for her lab techs to remove the body. Her concern for Alexis and Rick clearly etched in the haunted look on her face.

Esposito clapped his partner on the shoulder and added, "He's just trying to hold it together for his daughter."

Ryan looked down at what was left of a miserable excuse for a human being and said, "I never thought I'd ever say this in a million years, but I'm not sure if I want to arrest our mystery doer or buy him a round at "The Old Haunt," because I just can't seem to summon up a whole lot of sympathy for this guy."

As the three of them turned and headed for the door, Espo, replied, "Neither can I, my friend, but we still have a job to do, let's get at it."

As soon as Kate and Rick got outside, Castle's veneer of calm swiftly fell apart. Kate took his arm and supported him, as her partner, friend, and lover cried into her hair. She guided him into her father's Ford Explorer, which he'd loaned her to get around in during her leave of absence, and headed back to the Castle loft.

**Two hours Later**

Richard Webb walked into his office and his secretary handed him the information he had requested, and asked, "How was your hunting trip?"

He nodded at her and said, "I bagged the animal I was looking for, Elizabeth, thank you." After looking at the report on Hal Lockwood, and all of his known associates, including a list of names that would never have come up in a search by any local government agency, he scanned for his training officer, and frowned.

"So, finally come out from under your rock, have you Simon?" He muttered under his breath. Then looked back up at her and said, "Get Smith on the line, tell him I want to see him, it seems an old friend has come out to play."

**The 12th Precinct Morgue  
1:30 PM**

Rick Castle didn't know why he'd agreed to this, but after returning to the loft, and telling his daughter that Jerry Tyson was dead, Alexis had insisted on seeing his body, that she had to see for herself to be sure it was real. After trying to dissuade her for half an hour, he'd finally given in, and they'd all bundled into the Ford Explorer and drove across town to the precinct.

"Are you sure you want to do this sweetie," Lanie said to her after they entered the viewing area, "I could just show you the file."

Alexis shook her head, and in a small quiet voice said, "I'm not really sure of anything anymore, but I need to do this, it's the only way I can truly believe it's real."

She was visibly shaking. Her father hugged her close and she grasped his hand. When Lanie removed the sheet from over his face, his temple marred by two bullet holes, Alexis visibly gasped and recoiled in terror, as if his dead body would somehow rise from the table and attack her. She turned away, buried her face in her father's chest and said, "That's him...he's the one who...who...poked his head into the closet..." then burst into tears.

Lanie quickly replaced the sheet and motioned an assistant to remove the gurney.

Castle hugged his daughter close and began to quietly sing into her hair:

**"_The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone  
In the ranks of death you will find him;  
His father's sword he hath girded on,  
And his wild harp slung behind him;"  
Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,  
Tho' all the world betrays thee,  
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,  
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"_**

As he came to the end of the stanza, Alexis' head snapped up to look at his face and said "What?"

Castle looked her in the eye and said, "It's called "The Minstrel Boy" it's an old Irish tune, Your grandmother used to like to sing it to herself when she thought I wasn't listening. When she would come to visit she'd use it as a lullaby for you when you were a baby."

"That's the song he sang to me when he was carrying me out of the building...Alexis said hauntingly...he reminded me of you, dad. When he picked me up and told me everything would be all right, and started singing that song I felt...safe."

Beckett, who had up to this point been standing a discreet distance away, said, "Do you think you could describe him to a sketch artist, Alexis?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

**One hour later.**

Alexis sat in a chair with her feet pulled up and her arms around her knees and quietly described the man who had saved her to the sketch artist. When she was finished, the artist showed the drawing to them and Castle said, "That's the guy I spoke to, the one who'd found Alexis!"

Rick Castle was now of two minds on the subject. Though he knew this man had obviously tortured and killed a man not a night ago, he had also risked his own life to take on a serial killer to rescue his daughter, and made certain she was safe before he did what he did to him. He wasn't sure what to feel about it.

Alexis, however, was becoming more agitated and afraid by the minute. She clung to her father more tightly desperate to be out of the lab and back home. There were too many people, too many voices. She didn't feel safe here. She knew she should, knew she was in a police station surrounded by cops who saw her as their "little sister" who would probably lay down their lives for her, but in spite of all this, her fear was slowly becoming panic.

"Dad...please...take me home...please?" She pleaded urgently.

Castle was taken aback by the panic in Alexis' voice and said, "Kate, I was afraid of something like this, we need to go...now!"

As they guided her out to the waiting truck, she began to whisper "The Minstrel Boy" to herself, as they bundled her up inside, and drove her home.

Around the same time Alexis was describing him to the sketch artist, Rick Webb's cell phone rang. When he checked the number, it was the burner cell he had given to Martha, he'd forgotten he'd had routed to his personal phone.

"Can we meet somewhere, Richard?" Martha said tentatively.

Webb was stunned. This was only the second time they had spoken directly to each other in forty-four years, and yet the sound of her voice still took him back to a more happy time. That one week...their week, the last time he had ever felt...loved.

"How about Brooklyn Bridge Park, near the chess tables, about 5 o'clock? He finally managed to reply.

"Sounds good," Martha said, "I'll see you then."

**5:00 PM  
Brooklyn Bridge Park**

Richard Webb had arrived at four. (he always preferred to to recon a location out of habit) After he had handily beaten another elderly gentleman at chess to keep his table, he caught sight of Martha out of the corner of his eye. He thanked the man for the game and then waved her over to join him. As she sat down across from him, he could barely keep a thought in his head.

"You look good, Red." He finally blurted out, using his pet name for her.

"You too, Richard." She said warmly.

They looked each other up and down. Neither one sure where they wanted to begin. Finally it was Webb who broke the silence, he looked down as if intently scrutinizing the white queen he held in his hands. "I did what you wanted, I stayed away."

"I know, Richard, and you obviously paid a heavy price for it." Martha replied, "I can see it in your eyes. Something still haunts you, like it did back then when you thought I wasn't looking."

"I've seen a lot of pain and misery over the years. Done things that make it hard to look at myself in the mirror, even now." He began, "But knowing I had a son, and eventually a granddaughter is what kept me going. It kept me grounded, kept me from becoming like the people that I hunted. I needed to be able to tell myself that I was the kind of man _my son_ could look up to. Even if I couldn't be there for him. Even if the best I could ever hope to do was help him from the shadows.

Martha looked into his eyes, saw the pain there, the regret. It practically reached out to her over the chess table and tugged at her heart.

"I met him last night, he continued, "did you know? Did he tell you?

"No," Martha replied, "he was too busy looking after Alexis, but Kate did. She said she felt sympathy for you because you had lost everything."

"Martha," he said, "It took everything I had not to throw my arms around him, and tell him who I was. It just wasn't the right time. He had enough to process that night, not to mention Alexis to look after. I wanted to thank you though, for keeping me updated about their lives. It really meant a lot, it meant...everything."

Martha took a moment to collect herself, then said, "Richard, after I stopped being angry, I regretted telling you to stay away. I realized how much it hurt you. Eventually I came to understand why you had to go. I didn't like it, but I understood it." She reached out and put her hand over his, then continued, "But someday you're going to have to emerge from those shadows you've been watching from, and come back into the light. When you do, I'll be waiting."

Rick reached out and took her hand in both of his, and replied, "I don't have many useful years left to this business, but if you're still interested in a broken down old soldier, whatever years I have left are yours."

Martha squeezed his hands and said, "Always."


	6. Crossroads

**Chapter Six  
Crossroads**

* * *

_Oh, give me mercy for my dreams,  
'Cause every confrontation seems,  
To tell me what it really means,  
To be this lonely sailor,  
And when you take me by your side,  
You love me warm, you love me,  
And I should have realized,  
I had no reasons to be frightened,_

_But I am ready for the storm,  
Yes Sir, ready, I am ready for the storm,  
I'm ready for the storm,  
I'm ready for the storm,_

Kathy Mattea: Ready for the Storm

* * *

As the careful examination of the crime scene at 5th and Lex continued, (one of their own had been held here and they were being even more vigilant than normal) one of the crime scene analysts recovered a single shell casing which had fallen out of reach behind the radiator that Jerry Tyson had been secured to. It was dutifully dusted for prints which were recorded, to be run through the NCIC data base, and when that search came up empty, it was sent through the military one. Though the results of that search were not returned to the NYPD, it had turned up a single name.

Webb, Richard A. CDR  
NAVSPECWARGRU ONE (TEAM 1)  
DOB: 21 Sept, 1945  
Status: Missing in Action 21 Dec, 1968 presumed deceased.  
Last known location: Mekong River Delta, Republic of Vietnam.

This information was automatically routed to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The New York City branch had a heavy backlog of recent cases so it was transferred to the Washington D.C. branch where it landed on the desk of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who then had agent McGee put it up on the main screen in the office, and said, "This is the most recent known photo of Commander Richard Webb. It would seem that he is no longer missing."

"Why would a forty-four year old MIA case warrant our attention now, boss?" asked Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Gibbs smacked him lightly on the back of his head and replied, "Since his fingerprint was found on a shell casing at an NYPD crime scene this past week, DiNozzo, grab your gear. Ziva, and McGee as well, we're going to New York City."

"Ooh! Road trip!" Tony quipped, "I haven't been to the Big Apple since I delivered a prisoner there when I was still with Baltimore PD!"

"Big Apple?" Ziva asked.

"Later Ziva," Gibbs said, "Let's move like we have a purpose." and they headed out the door.

**9:00 AM the next day  
12th Precinct Homicide squad room.**

After 10 minutes in Gates' office with her displeasure clearly in evidence to anyone in the squad room, the 12th Precinct Captain stalked out angrily and barked, "Esposito! Ryan! You are hereby off of the Jerry Tyson murder investigation, effective immediately.

"What?" Came Esposito's angry reply. Though he was in no hurry to solve this case himself, he still shared a local cop's dislike to handing over a case to the feds. For once he and Gates had something in common.

"Detective Esposito," Gates snapped, "the jurisdiction for the Jerry Tyson murder has officially been ceded to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service." She indicated Gibbs and his people, "This comes straight from the chief of detectives, you are to provide your full cooperation to Special Agent Gibbs and his team, and extend them every courtesy. I don't like this either, but those are our orders."

Tony walked up and put his hand out, "Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, good to meet ya!" Espo looked him up and down with mild contempt before accepting the handshake and replied, "Javier Esposito, this is my partner Kevin Ryan. I'm temporarily assigned as lead detective here while Detective Beckett is on a leave of absence, helping her partner, Rick Castle look after his daughter after she was recovered from the scene."

Tony pointed out the rest of the team, "You've already noticed our boss, Special agent Gibbs, This is Special Agent Ziva David, and Special Agent Tim McGee." As handshakes were given all around, Tony asked, "Is there someplace where we can set up to work? I used to be with Baltimore PD, so I know dealing with feds can be a bit of a hassle."

Ryan pointed the way to the break room, "Right this way, we can set you up in the break room."

As Ryan led the other agents out, Gibbs approached Esposito and said in a quiet but authoritative tone, "I'm going to need your witness to come in for an interview as soon as possible."

"Absolutely not!" Espo replied angrily, stepping right up to Gibbs, menacingly. "The last time Castle brought Alexis in to view the body of her attacker and give a statement, she damn near had a panic attack." Esposito never relinquished eye contact or flinched from Gibbs hardened gaze, as he continued, "Richard Castle is very much loved around here, and I look at Alexis as a kid sister. I won't see her hurt any more than she already has been, just because you don't trust us to do our jobs!"

Though he gave nothing away externally, Gibbs was quite impressed with Espo's nerve, and his esprit de corps. "What service were you in?" he asked. Espo took a step back and said with pride, "Special Forces, I served two tours in Afghanistan before joining the force."

Gibbs nodded respectfully, "Would it be easier if we went to her then? A follow up interview might bring to light something she missed earlier." Espo nodded, "I think I can work something out. I'll call Detective Beckett, she's there with him now."

Gibbs raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing.

"They've been something of an item for nearly a year now, off and on," Espo offered, "but it's only been official for a few weeks now. After Castle took a bullet for her in this very room." he hesitated for a moment then continued in a more hushed tone, "I wouldn't mess with her where he and Alexis are concerned, she's very protective."

"Noted, Detective Esposito." Gibbs replied, then motioned to his people who were just emerging from the break room, "DiNozzo, Ziva with me. McGee, stay here and get started looking at the files. You'll liaise with the precinct, and get the link set up with Ducky and Abby."

As Tony and Ziva grabbed their bags and headed for the door, McGee said, "You bet, boss." After they left, Espo and Ryan descended on him, and Ryan asked, "Is he always this direct with people?"

"Actually," McGee replied, "I think he was holding back a little. Do you guys really work with Richard Castle, the author?" He seemed noticeably excited. Espo and Ryan shared a conspiratorial look. They had long ago become accustomed to such questions about their famous friend.

"Are you a fan, Agent McGee?" Espo asked, looking for an opening.

"More like a colleague," McGee replied with pride, "I've authored the Deep Six series under the pseudonym of Thom E. Gemcity."

"Oh," Ryan replied, "I've read those. Not bad, but Castle really has this down."

"Oh I know," McGee replied, "when I was in the middle of getting the first one published several years ago, I went to a book signing to ask him for advice, but I couldn't seem to get any words out. I got my copy of "Storm Fall" signed and ran off."

"Chickened out, eh?" Espo said, sharing a "we have him now" look with Ryan.

**Half an hour later  
Castle loft**

"Did Espo tell you anything else about this Special Agent Gibbs?" Castle asked nervously. His concern for Alexis plain on his face.

"Only that he's obviously former military, a Marine he thinks, and he's got a reputation as a hard charger," Beckett replied, her concern for both Alexis and Rick plain on hers as well. "also that his team has a very high clearance rate, Javi and Kevin are working on the guy they left in the squad room to see what else they can find out."

Rick was about to say more, when there was a loud, authoritative knock on the front door. Castle went to open it, revealing the three NCIS agents they were expecting. Each with their credentials extended for viewing.

"Mr Castle, my name is Special Agent Gibbs," He said, then indicated Tony and Ziva, "these are agents Tony DiNozzo, and Ziva David." Castle nodded, looked at all of their credentials carefully, and only then admitted them into the loft.

"I understand that your daughter has been through a lot," Gibbs said, "but it would be of great Importance to our investigation to conduct a follow-up interview. See if anything was missed, or if she recalled something new that hasn't come to light till now. You have my word, that I will be as gentle as possible."

Castle bristled at the words "as possible" and moved to confront Gibbs. "I don't like this, not one bit. Hasn't Alexis been through enough? Every night since, she either refuses to go to sleep, or when she does become too exhausted she wakes up screaming!" His color began to get pale, as his tension rose and he began breathing hard.

Kate rose from the couch to interject herself between Rick and Gibbs, giving the latter a dark menacing look of her own, then said, "Rick, please, you know what the doctor said about getting overstressed." Rick stopped, for a moment, took a few deep breaths to slow his heart rate, and some of the color slowly returned to his face.

He shared a long look with Beckett, then said quietly, "Alexis is in her room, I'll see if she's willing to come out and talk to you." Then headed for the stairs to the second floor.

As Castle disappeared up the stairs, Beckett turned to face Gibbs with an even more menacing look than before, and said to him, "If you cause those two any more pain than they've already suffered, you _will _answer to me." Making the answer to the unasked question Gibbs had as to where her loyalties lie absolutely clear.

Ziva moved to intercept Kate as she moved in Gibbs' direction, and interjected, "Agent Gibbs is not trying to cause them any more distress. I am certain she will be in very good hands."

….

Rick tapped on the door to Alexis' room before entering. "Pumpkin, there's a Special Agent Gibbs from the NCIS here to speak with you regarding the man who rescued you."

Alexis looked up slowly from the book she was reading, and nodded. The hollow look in her eyes told him how little sleep she had gotten last night. Seeing her like this, once again broke his heart.

"If you don't want to talk to him, that's ok, I'll get Kate to show him the door, even call Javi, if I have to.

Alexis put down her book, and rubbed her eyes. "It's ok, dad, I'll be right out, just give me a moment to change." she said dully.

Rick nodded, the fact that she was willing to talk to a complete stranger was a good start. "I'll be right outside when you're ready." he replied, and kissed her on the forehead.

A few minutes later, Rick walked down the stairs, holding Alexis close. He looked at Gibbs as they reached the first floor level, indicated the door to his office and said, "You can use my office, it's right through there."

Gibbs nodded, indicated Ziva, then said with a gentleness that surprised both Rick and Kate, "My name is Leroy Gibbs, this is Agent Ziva David, she will be sitting in with us to take notes, if that's ok."

Alexis nodded slowly in assent, disengaged from her father and moved to follow them. Rick kissed her on the top of her head and said, "Kate and I will be right out here if you need anything pumpkin."

As they disappeared into his office and the door closed, Rick gave Agent DiNozzo a cold stare. Tony put his hands up in a defensive gesture, and said, "Don't worry, my boss was a family man, once. It kinda left him with a soft spot for kids."

"Was?" Castle asked. DiNozzo got a wistful look in his eyes for a moment and replied, "He doesn't like to talk about it."

"Oh," Castle said, "I see." The father and the writer in him instantly grasped the subtext and let it go.

….

When they emerged nearly half an hour later, Alexis was none the worse for wear, as she folded herself once again into her father's arms. Gibbs was a man of his word. "Thank you for your cooperation, Alexis, I realize how difficult this was for you." Gibbs said, tenderly, handing her his business card. "If you or your father can think of anything else, feel free to call me at this number, day or night."

Gibbs turned toward Rick and gave him a card as well, who then took the hand Gibbs offered.

"If it helps, I believe I met the man you're looking for." Gibbs looked him in the eye, and allowed him to continue, "He told me that he lost his family after he came back from Vietnam. I think that's why he was willing to put his life on the line to help Alexis."

A haunted look darkened Gibbs' eye for a moment, before he blinked it back and it was gone.

"He gave me back my daughter, if he needs a character witness at his court martial, tell him to let me know."

Alexis looked up at that, and said emotionally, "Please don't hurt him."

"I'll consider it." Gibbs replied quietly, giving Alexis a wink, at which she brightened a little.

Tony and Ziva exchanged a brief look between them that went unnoticed by everyone in the room, except for Kate. She smiled briefly as their shared look brought back a happy memory of what seemed like a simpler time, which disappeared quickly, as they led to memories of a more recent bittersweet nature.

As the door closed behind the departing NCIS agents, Castle looked at Kate's expression and said, "Do agents DiNozzo and David remind you of anybody?" Kate grinned conspiratorially knowing Rick had read her mind and replied, "So you picked up on that too, huh?"

Rick wrapped his right arm around the small of Kate's back, kissed her on the right temple, and said, "Great minds think alike I guess." Then shrugged as she wrinkled her nose at him.

"I hope they figure it out quicker than we did." Kate said softly.

"Yeah, me too," Rick said, as she settled into his embrace, "life is too short."

Their brief moment of introspection was broken by Alexis, who said "Suddenly, I'm feeling really hungry, anybody else?"

Rick brightened noticeably and offered, "Chinese, anyone?" Which elicited hungry looks from the two most important women in his life, as he raised his cell phone to place the order. Though he knew Alexis was far from out of the woods yet, he took this as a very positive sign that their collective universe seemed to be on it's way back to a more familiar and happier alignment.

….

As Gibbs was stepping out of the apartment building past the doorman he was listening to the conversation between Tony and Ziva a few paces ahead of him.

"Did you see that Detective Beckett?" Tony said.

"She seems to be very direct, Tony, it would be very hard not to." Ziva replied.

"I meant that she was _smoking hot_! I can see what attracted Castle to...OWWW!" Tony continued until Ziva smacked him on the back of his head, a little more firmly than she had intended, and gave him a sharp look.

"Don't tell me you're jealous, Zee-vah." he said, over emphasizing her name, in a teasing manner. "Natalie Rhoades did not to her justice in the movie." Then ducked before Ziva could smack him again, and continued, "What can I say, Zee-vah, I have a weakness for smoking hot brunettes."

"Oh, do you now?" Ziva purred seductively.

Gibbs gave them both a gentle cuff on the back of their heads, and said, "Let's get back to the precinct, and see what McGee has for us."

Before he could say more, or Tony could open his mouth with a smart aleck remark, his cell phone beeped. When he opened it, a text message appeared on the screen:

Crime scene, 5th and Lex  
Come alone.

Gibbs looked up from his phone, and said, "Ziva, ride with DiNozzo, I'll catch up later."

"What is the problem, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"Nothing I can't handle, Gibbs replied, "now get moving, both of you."

**Twenty minutes later.  
Apartment building, 5th and Lex.**

Gibbs stepped under the crime scene tape at the door to the apartment building, and entered the now empty crime scene on the 3rd floor.

"Are you looking for me?" a voice said behind him.

Gibbs whirled, drawing his sidearm, to see Richard Webb, his own weapon drawn, but pointed at the floor.

"Drop the gun, Webb, I'm taking you in." Gibbs commanded.

"We both know that's not going to happen, Special Agent Gibbs," Webb said as he holstered his weapon. "I answer only to the National Command Authority, and the President of the United States, you don't have the authority to take me into custody. I am merely here as a courtesy. Your boss should be receiving the cease and desist order as we speak. This investigation will be all but over in the morning."

Gibbs lowered his own weapon slowly before asking, "Then why do this? Why break cover now, after forty four years?

Rick Webb, got a haunted look on his face, then replied, "Haven't you deduced as much, Agent Gibbs? When I told Richard Castle I'd lost my family after Vietnam, I was telling him the truth. What he doesn't know, and I'd appreciate you not revealing yet, is that he's my son."

Gibbs interrupted in a shocked tone, "That makes Alexis Castle..."

"My granddaughter, yes," Webb supplied, "and there was no way, once I found out, that I was leaving her in the hands of that sadistic son of a bitch, Tyson." Gibbs finally holstered his weapon, with a look of resigned understanding, as Rick Webb continued. "I read your service record before arranging this meeting. I know what happened to your wife and daughter, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I probably would have done the same as you."

Gibbs looked at him, a silent battle going on behind his eyes, as old, long buried memories flashed in his mind, before saying, "And, for what it's worth, I can't say I wouldn't have done much different here." Then turned and walked away.

**The next Morning  
Captain Gates' office.**

To say Captain Gates was furious was putting it mildly. "You walked into my precinct, waved your federal badges around, and took over a homicide investigation from my detectives. You worked it for a single day, and now you're telling me that it's being buried in the interests of National Security?"

Gibbs never once flinched or lowered his gaze from her eyes, and replied firmly, "The order comes from the Secretary of the Navy and the office of the National Security Advisor. It's out of my hands. If you would like to talk to my boss, here's his number." Which he wrote on the back of one of his business cards and handed it to her. "You should be receiving the official order to close the file on this case from your chief of detectives shortly, along with the necessary paperwork to turn over all evidence relating to the case, including the body of Jerry Tyson, his personal effects and everything else relating to his murder.

Victoria Gates was positively fuming, when Gibbs walked out of her office. Not that she was particularly fond of Jerry Tyson, but she did not like the idea of vigilantes in her city. She stalked out of her office for the second time in as many days and gave her detectives the necessary orders.

When she was done, and slammed the door to her office firmly shut behind her, Ryan looked over at Espo, and said, "Sound familiar?"

"Yeah, Espo replied, that case mom and dad worked on that they still can't talk about." they both shrugged and began packing up their case files.

As Tony, Ziva, and McGee collected the assorted file boxes from detectives Ryan and Esposito, including signing all of the chain of evidence reports, Kate Beckett appeared in the doorway of the break room, and said, "Agent David, can we talk privately for a moment."

Ziva looked at Kate for a moment, and replied in a puzzled tone, "I cannot see why not." She turned and said, "Tony, McGee, I will be back in a moment."

She followed Kate into the empty viewing gallery for the interrogation room, and closed the door behind her.

Kate took a deep breath, hesitated almost shyly for a moment, then said, "I've seen how you look at him."

"Who?" Ziva replied.

"Agent DiNozzo, Beckett supplied, "it was like that with Castle and I too. When I first met him, I hated him. I resented the way he had used his connections with the mayor to bully his way into my workplace. He was annoying, exasperating, childish, and resented the way he insinuated himself into my life. Later on, as he began to grow on me, and we really became partners, I began to feel that he wanted more, and that scared me because deep down, so did I."

She looked down shamefully, and added, "I didn't feel like I deserved his constant devotion, even as he patterned a heroine in his books after me, called me his muse, wrote a dedication that took my breath away, but I fought my feelings for him. Hid my true feelings behind innuendo, and stolen glances."

Ziva looked down at the floor as if making a detailed assessment of her shoes. "But something changed, obviously."

"Yes, it did." Kate continued, "We had been chasing down leads on my mother's killer, when all of a sudden, he told me to stop and walk away. Bolt out of the blue. We fought about it, and I said some hurtful spiteful things to him, then shut him out, and went after them anyway."

"Rick still came after me, dragged me away, to keep me safe, even after all the hurtful things I said. On the day I was shot by a sniper, he knelt over me, begged me not to die, and before everything went dark he told me he loved me."

Ziva looked into Kate's eyes which were welling with tears, and could tell that this was very difficult for her to say, especially to a complete stranger. She wanted to say something, but couldn't seem to find the words.

Kate continued, "When he visited me in the hospital, and asked me if I remembered anything about that day, I lied right to his face and said I didn't. I'd obviously hurt him, and I felt instantly ashamed of myself. I told him I'd call him when I was ready to talk to him, and then left him twisting in the wind for three months."

"After we reconnected, he spent nearly ten months trying to show me how much he loved me, and how patient he could be, and yet I kept up the lie. Until one day he found out. He thought I'd been stringing him along like the other women he'd known had done. He was hurt and he became cold and distant. He lashed out in pain and I didn't know why. It was slowly killing me inside."

Kate stopped for a moment, and searched for the right words, then continued, "Just when we were beginning to get back to where we had been before, he was shot, right next to my desk in the precinct. It was like my world just...stopped. When I thought how I might actually lose him forever, and he wouldn't know how much I really loved him, I nearly died inside." Tears were falling unabashed down her cheeks, and the pain she felt was evident on her face.

"Why are you telling me all of this detective?" Ziva said, clearly moved, in danger of bursting into tears herself as she realized the parallels with her relationship with Tony.

Kate steeled herself, and continued, "If you truly love him as much as I think you do, please, tell him. Don't keep putting it off because you don't think it's the right time. Time has a funny way of running out when we think we have plenty of it."

"I will think about what you have said." Ziva replied.

Kate put a hand on Ziva's arm and said, "Don't think too long or you might talk yourself out of it. If you lose him tomorrow, and you never took the chance to tell him, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

When Ziva returned to the squad room, Tony and McGee had obviously finished packing all of the files away. She looked over at Detective Beckett's desk, and the clearly new section of carpet nearby and got a far away look on her face as she turned her gaze on Tony.

He noticed the look on her face, and said, "Ziva, are you ok?"

Ziva looked down for a moment, looked back at Tony, and replied, "Ask me again when we get home, we have much to discuss." She touched his arm, briefly, and he gave hers a gentle squeeze and said, "Of course." The entire team then bid their goodbyes and left.

Kate walked out of the observation room, and was quickly folded up into Rick Castle's warm embrace.

"Do you think she'll listen?" he asked.

"I don't know, Kate replied, "I hope so, I hope they don't have to go through everything we did to get here."

"Me neither, life is just too short, Rick said, then kissed her. "I love you for trying though, you have no idea how proud I am of you." as he led her toward the door. "Come on, we have one more day left of your leave of absence, and I don't intend to waste it." Kate gave him a hungry look, rested her head on his shoulder, and allowed him to lead her to the elevator.


	7. Rest and Recovery

**Chapter Seven  
****Rest and Recovery**

* * *

_"You loved me 'cause I'm fragile_  
_When I thought that I was strong_  
_But you touch me for a little while_  
_And all my fragile strength is gone"_

Sara Bareilles: Gravity

* * *

_Richard Castle crossed the yellow police tape on his way to the crime scene. There were police cars with their lights on everywhere. Ryan and Esposito were talking to witnesses. Even Captain Gates had made an appearance. "Where is Kate? She should be here." He kept thinking to himself, Lanie was kneeling over the victims of an apparent double homicide. As he drew closer, two uniformed officers tried to keep him back from the two dead women, posed as if for viewing in a funeral parlor. He pushed his way through to get a better look until he was standing over Lanie. _

_"I'm so sorry Castle." she said. A look of horror and sadness on her dark features. Only then did he look down and see their faces. The faces of Kate and Alexis, as if asleep, each with a dark red ligature mark around their necks. He dropped to his knees and screamed_.

* * *

_"Castle!"_ Kate shouted at Rick as he thrashed in his sleep, then sat bolt upright screaming. She saw the glazed over look in his eyes, the wild terror on his face, and was frozen to the spot in shock. He rolled off the bed and onto the floor, dragged himself backwards to the wall and tried to stand. He couldn't find the strength to rise to his feet, though and dropped back onto the floor in the corner, sobbing, muttering "no, no, no." over and over again.

Kate moved swiftly to him, took him in her arms, kissed him on the forehead, stroked his hair, and in a quiet soothing voice whispered, "Shh Rick, it's ok, it was just a dream, it was just a dream, shh."

After a few minutes of her soothing touch, his eyes slowly began to focus, and his breathing slowed. "Oh God, Kate it was so real...I went to a crime scene...and it was you and Alexis...laid out like Tyson's victims...and, and, and..." he broke down sobbing again.

The anguish in Rick's voice opened up a floodgate of emotion in Kate and she began to cry, too. She held Rick even tighter, afraid to let go. At that moment, Alexis burst into the room, shock and concern evident on her face as she shouted "Dad!" Then ran over to hug her father.

He grabbed her in his arms and kissed her forehead over and over again. "Oh thank God, pumpkin."

Between the two of them they got Rick to his feet, walked him back to the bed and sat him down just as Martha burst into the room. Her own pain as she saw him drew her to his side as well. She saw the tears flowing down Kate's face and squeezed her hand.

"He had a nightmare, Martha, a...a... really bad one." she said, clearly shaken. "Almost as bad as the ones I had after I was shot." She looked down at the floor, unable to look Martha in the eye, "I can't bear to see him like this."

Alexis looked up at Kate, and saw the anguish on her face. "It's because of me, isn't it? He's been so worried about me, that he hasn't been taking care of himself, hasn't he? If I'd been more careful leaving school...this is all my fault..."

"_NO_!" Rick shouted, louder than he'd intended, then took her face in both hands so her eyes met his. "Alexis, don't ever say that again! I love you more than life itself. You and Kate are my world. This isn't your fault." Then kissed her forehead and drew her into a hug as she started to cry. "It was just a really bad dream, honest."

"I'll stay home today, dad and take care of you." Alexis said, "You shouldn't be alone."

Rick put a finger to her lips to silence her. "No pumpkin, I know you need to do this, I'll be okay. Let Lanie occupy you for a few hours, or you'll end up as bad as me."

Kate took Alexis by the hand and led her toward the door, "Don't worry, I'll stay with him, I'll call Espo and have him come pick you up."

"Are you sure?" Alexis pleaded.

"I have a bit more experience with this than you do, Alexis, trust me." Kate said, "Besides I'd be so distracted at work that "Iron Gates" would probably send me home anyway." She gave Alexis a big hug then swatted her playfully on the behind and said, "Now get dressed for work, I'll call Javi."

….

Just when Lanie thought she'd had enough surprises in her life, in the door came a determined, if somewhat skittish, Alexis Castle. After wrapping her intern in a huge unprofessional bear hug, she put her straight to work at her usual job of cataloging personal effects. Though she made a point of checking up on her incessantly usually with a flimsy excuse.

Javi came down to check on her periodically, he had told her that Castle had had a major PTSD episode that morning and he came to check on Alexis like he knew her father would have had he been able.

She did her best to keep Alexis busy most of the day (which seemed to be what she both needed and wanted) but made a point of keeping her as far away from the units where bodies were kept as was humanly possible. She had no intention of letting Alexis anywhere near there until all three of Jerry Tyson's recent victims were out of her morgue.

….

Kate Beckett did her best to keep a brave face on for the rest of the morning after they got Rick to go back to sleep. When Javi came to pick Alexis up, she told him what happened and that she'd be out today. He gave her a concerned look, as if he could see right through her, but let it drop without a word as Alexis came down the stairs, plastered a warm smile on his face and became "Uncle Javi" as he escorted her out the door with a calming demeanor and an encouraging arm.

As soon as Alexis was safely out the door, and Martha was off to her acting studio (with the admonition that she call if anything else happened) leaving Kate alone in the loft with a sleeping Rick, her facade of strength swiftly evaporated. She ran into the upstairs bathroom, slid down the wall onto the floor and fell apart, sobbing. Her pain and heartache for the man she loved echoing loudly in the small space.

….

Richard Castle had closed his eyes and pretended to sleep until he was sure that Alexis had left with Espo. He'd kept his eyes shut, and his back to the bedroom door both times it had opened since. The first time was presumably when his mother had looked in on him before leaving for her acting studio. He'd know her footsteps leading up to the door and then away anywhere. The second time was most likely Kate as it had stayed open just a little bit longer, and he'd heard a soft sigh escape her lips before she closed the door.

The thought of sleep never entered his mind, that dream had felt just a little too real and he remembered it with near perfect detail. After his display upon waking from it, the last thing he needed was Alexis staying home and fussing over him. He knew she needed to get out of the house and do some healing of her own. It was simply in his nature to put her needs first. If he suffered for it, so be it.

He sat up and and swung his feet to the floor. Gingerly at first, he rose to his feet, carefully testing his balance. Once he was sure he could walk without stumbling, he grabbed a pair of jeans and an NYPD sweatshirt someone had given him and put them on. He then slid his feet into a pair of warm slippers and headed for the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. As he approached the kitchen island, he thought he heard a noise upstairs. As he climbed the stairs, it clearly sounded like someone sobbing, coming from the upstairs bathroom. He took the remaining stairs two at a time and when he swung open the bathroom door, saw Kate curled up on the floor in the corner sobbing uncontrollably.

"Kate!" he cried out, but she didn't seem to hear him. He said her name a second time with more desperation in his voice. He gently lowered himself to the floor and took her into his arms, as she reached for him and continued sobbing into his chest. He picked her up in his arms, carefully rose to his feet, and carried her out of the bathroom and down the stairs. He lowered himself gingerly onto the living room couch, then held her to him making quiet soothing noises and stroking her hair as she wept. He knew instinctively that she didn't need him to say anything, she just needed him to be there. So he just held her.

….

All things being equal, Alexis was holding up quite well. She'd only felt a minor amount of anxiety as she sorted through and carefully documented the latest murder victim's personal effects. Especially the contents of the man's wallet, most notably the family portrait with his wife and kids. She wiped a tear onto the sleeve of her sweater, changed into a fresh set of gloves and slowly just worked through it.

At lunchtime, she received a text message from her father, which read, "How are you holding up, pumpkin? Love ya, Dad." A small part of her mind bristled at the unprofessional use of his pet name for her, but then she grinned. Her dad always knew exactly what to say to make her smile.

Detectives Ryan and Esposito walked in a few moments later. "I was told that Castle's wayward lamb had wandered in," Ryan said with a slight grin, "and I just had to see for myself." Alexis smiled back at him, and he continued, "Javi and I thought we'd treat you to lunch, your boss too, if she hasn't been too much of a slave driver."

Lanie looked up at the mention of lunch, and said with a broad smile on her face, "If the two of you weren't being so adorable right now, I'd be tempted to slap you, Kevin."

Alexis' stomach rumbled at the notion of lunch, and got up to get her jacket. Ryan held out his arm, and she took it, Espo did the same for Lanie, and off they went. For the first time in a long time, Alexis had a contented smile on her face.

….

Kate had finally cried herself out, and just sat there, curled up in Rick's lap, grateful for his company, she looked up at him and said, "I thought you were asleep."

Rick shrugged his shoulders with that boyish look on his face she loved so much and replied, "A ruse for Alexis' benefit, I knew she needed to get out of the house. If she thought I was up and about, she would have stayed and fussed over me all day, wild horses could not have dragged her out of here."

"Thank you for being here for me, you always seem to know when I need you, even before I know it myself." Kate replied.

"Always, Kate," Castle said, "I'm in this for the long haul, remember?"

As if to answer, she snuggled in closer and kissed him long and hard on the lips. When they parted several minutes later, Rick recovered his composure for a moment and said, "I was going to make a cup of coffee earlier, would you like some?"

"Yes please!" Kate replied quickly. She always loved it when he brought her coffee.

After she slid off of his lap, and he rose to go to the kitchen, she curled up in the warm space he had just vacated, and waited patiently, as she heard the grinding sound of the coffee press, and then breathed in the warm comforting aroma of brewing coffee. She heard him laugh softly as he worked his magic in the kitchen.

When Rick came back a few minutes later, she slid over to let him sit down, then cuddled back up next to him, and accepted the cup of freshly brewed love he offered.

"I got a text from Lanie a moment ago," Rick said, breaking the silence, "she sent me a photo of Alexis when they were on their way to lunch." He showed her the picture of a smiling Alexis on Ryan's arm. "It does me a world of good to see she can still smile like that, after what she's been through."

"Jenny better never see that, or Ryan will be in a world of trouble." Kate said, then fell into a fit of giggles. A moment later she got more serious, and asked, "Is this what being together is really going to be like?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders again, and replied, "Well I could really do without the PTSD inspired nightmares and the people from our past wanting to kill us, but if you mean sharing the bad times as well as the good, then yes, this is what it will be like. What it should be like."

"Good." she replied, and snuggled just a little bit closer as they sat and drank their coffee in comfortable silence.

….

When Alexis got home that evening, she walked in the door to find her father and Kate curled up together on the couch, sound asleep, covered by a blanket. Two mostly empty cups sat on the coffee table in front of them. "Shh!" Martha said in a quiet voice from the kitchen island with a finger on her lips, and waved her over to join her, then handed her a cup of hot chocolate.

"I found them like that, when I got home," she whispered, "they looked so adorable and peaceful, I didn't have the heart to wake them. I found this on the coffee table though." and showed Alexis the open image of her from lunch, she blushed scarlet, then giggled. "One good turn deserves another." she whispered, then tiptoed out to the living room with her cell phone, took a photo then texted it to Lanie with the message, "Mission accomplished."Alexis came back to the kitchen island with a mild case of the giggles, which proved to be infectious as she and her grandmother quietly began to make dinner.

….

Lanie and Esposito had just snuggled in together to watch a movie on her DVR when her cell phone pinged. When she picked it up to check, she said "Awwww" aloud and showed him the photo Alexis sent her of Kate and Rick asleep on his couch.

"If those two can make it work after all that they've been through," Esposito said quietly, "perhaps there's hope for us yet." then pulled Lanie closer.

"You better believe it." Lanie said, kissed him passionately, then pulled the blanket over their heads. It had been a very productive day, all around.


	8. Shadows and Monsters

**Chapter Eight  
****Shadows and Monsters  
**

* * *

_"Hate, I'm your hate_  
_I'm your hate when you want love_  
_Pay, pay the price_  
_Pay for nothing's fair_  
_Hey, I'm your life_  
_I'm the one who took you there_  
_Hey, I'm you life and I no longer care" _

Metallica: Sad But True

* * *

Simon Anderson, aka: Vulcan Simmons sat behind his mahogany desk and pondered the way the latest operation had turned out. Though it had certainly not gone entirely to plan, he was pleased with the results, nonetheless. He had hoped that Jerry Tyson had been more patient. Perhaps twisted the knife on poor little Alexis Castle a bit more, the op had still, for the most part, produced the desired results.

Richard Castle was distracted from his search for information on him, and his distress kept the lovely Detective Beckett off balance. He had known since the day he'd allowed himself to be taken in for "questioning" in her interrogation room that she could be easily manipulated by sentiment. Even to the point of turning on colleagues and friends if prodded sufficiently in the right sensitive spot.

He had rather enjoyed baiting her, twisting her emotions to his will. The bruises on his back from the broken two-way mirror were well worth the aches they had produced the following morning, if only for the entertainment value she had provided. He hadn't even bothered filing a formal complaint. Making her dance to his tune had kept him grinning with satisfaction for days. Sometimes he actually missed running psi-ops for the CIA. He'd forgotten how satisfying it could be when you did it right.

He was, however, more concerned about his former section chief's personal involvement. Not that he hadn't expected him to become involved in some way. He had been prepared for that, as this was intended as a diversion from his activities for "Archangel" as well. What had surprised him, had been the lengths he had gone to. He had read a copy of the medical examiner's report. He had expected the old man to simply kill him, or have his man Smith do it. But Tyson's body had been shown to have obvious signs of "aggressive" interrogation. He hadn't expected that from him, especially since he'd obviously done it himself. He'd always seen "Archangel" to be more of an overgrown Boy Scout. This troubled him, greatly.

"How much does he know?" He muttered aloud to himself. Obviously if he could coerce Lockwood's name from him, it could possibly lead him to his door eventually. This could prove to be problematic. He would have to step up his operations timetable accordingly. Not to mention expect him, and his good friend Smith to come hunting him soon. He hadn't worked all of the last twenty years to slowly take over narcotics distribution for the entire East coast only to have it fall apart simply because his employer had finally learned to overlook his own scruples.

He remembered when he had first been assigned to "sanitize" the mess that had been the Armen affair. Armen had once been an FBI agent, but had long since become a "company" asset. The cold war had still been a higher priority than the war on organized crime when he'd been tasked there. His contacts in the Pulgotti organization had silenced more than one potential KGB sleeper cell in it's day. The time had come though to pull him out though. It had been going well, until two crooked cops and a clueless rookie straight from the academy had bungled into the extraction. He hadn't seen so much money in his entire life. He knew how lucrative the narcotics trade could be of course, but never imagined it could be made to pay this well.

He'd done his job, at first. The obvious ringleader of the three, McAllister had laid most of the groundwork, already. Once he'd been supplied with Armen's former FBI credentials, framing Pulgotti for the murder had been child's play. The feds had bought it, hook line and sinker. They needed the good P.R. of a hero agent dying in the line of duty.

Dealing with the three cops had been almost as easy. Raglan was the typical follower. Easily intimidated with the right threats and pressure. The rookie cop, Montgomery, had a wife. He was easily cowed once he'd been shown how simple it would be for his wife (and later his children) to disappear. McAllister, he liked. He was disillusioned enough with law enforcement, and had a large enough ego to be easily manipulated. Putting him on the payroll to make sure the other two continued to play ball made perfect sense. He was greedy and ambitious, and could have made a perfect patsy later if his plans for them had gone south.

After a few "additions" to the files at One Police Plaza, courtesy of his newly bought and paid for officers in his pocket, Vulcan Simmons was born. With his psi-ops training, superior organizational skills, sheer ruthlessness, and near perfect operational security, he had used the money he had stolen to grease enough wheels to take over the regional distribution of narcotics. It had been painfully easy. His competitors tended to disappear, or ended up with massive prison terms courtesy of the NYPD and DEA. The rest were folded into his organization, and any residual troublemakers were swiftly dealt with.

A few years later, he was dealt his first major complication. An overzealous do good-er of a civil rights lawyer named Johanna Beckett began poking around the Armen murder case. It had been little things at first. Her "take back the streets" campaign the year before had gotten his attention, but he'd let it go as the price of doing business. This, however, had presented a real problem. He was not yet in a position to be open to the wrong type of scrutiny. Especially if it involved his previous employer. She had to be dealt with, swiftly.

He'd tried subtle threats at first. A brick through her office window here, her daughter Kate being mugged there, but this woman was like a hound on a scent, relentless. A true believer of the most annoying kind. There was only one solution left open.

He still had several contacts from his old life, and he called on one, a man he had trained, named Hal Lockwood. He clued him in to a man with both military experience and skill at killing named Dick Coonan. Once the pieces feel into place, it was just a matter of price. Within a week, Johanna Beckett was bleeding out in the same alley Armen had died in. There was a ruthless symmetry to it he found almost amusing.

He had also found in Hal Lockwood a solid right hand. His disillusionment with his lot in life had made him ripe for recruitment. The man even took care of Beckett's law office associates when they didn't back off. The man was loyal and dedicated. The type of man he needed.

After the series of murders, which his bought and paid for Detective Raglan had basically soft-pedaled as random violence, he'd had to lie low for a while. There was too much publicity. Not to mention "Archangel" had his stalking dog, Smith poking around. The man was one of those rare incorruptible individuals with no weaknesses to exploit, and he knew better than to break cover and engage Smith openly. He was as dangerous as he was dedicated.

Another cause for concern was Beckett's daughter Kate. She had switched gears from law school, to the police academy. People with vendettas, especially cops, could be bad for business. A few well placed phone calls to then Lieutenant Montgomery had been sufficient to see to it she chased her tail and found nothing. He was a slave to his sentimentality and easily manipulated. It had been even easier once Montgomery had made captain, and put in charge of the 12th Precinct, and she'd been assigned there, first as a street cop, then as a detective. A stroke of luck he only wished he could have taken credit for.

Then four years ago, just when everything was going so very well, that damned fool Richard Castle had to come along with a wandering eye and a case of writer's block. He was rich enough, and famous enough that even he couldn't go after him directly without an enormous amount of scrutiny. Not to mention federal attention that even his high level political benefactors would never be able to extricate him from. To top it all off, his former employer was a fan of his, it would seem. This combination of factors, made Richard Castle damn near untouchable.

To make matters even worse, that damn fool Coonan had to go and kill his own brother with the same m.o. he had used to kill the Beckett woman all those years ago. Which started all the dominoes falling inexorably into place for a confrontation.

Raglan had grown a conscience it had seemed, or finally listened to it, as terminal illness had a tendency to bring that out in people like him. This necessitated sending Lockwood to silence him before he could reveal anything to Detective Beckett. Shortly thereafter, he had been taken into custody, taken down by that dandy, Castle no less, which had to have been a blow to his ego, to say the least. At least it had afforded him the opportunity to eliminate that fool McAllister who had finally outlived his usefulness.

After engineering his escape during his arraignment on his newer murder charges, he had set him on using Montgomery to draw the good detective to her doom, but it would seem Montgomery had grown a spine after all, and had taken Lockwood and his men down with him instead. He'd had to hastily employ a sniper to deal with Beckett. At least that had gone to plan, with her at least temporarily out of the way he had been able to clean house in his organization. Anyone who could link him even remotely to Johanna Beckett, Raglan, Montgomery, or McAllister was now dead. Including the sniper who had shot the good detective. There were no more leads for Mr. Castle to find.

The time for half measures and plotting in the shadows were nearly over. Soon he would be untouchable, and able to take more direct action. All of his waiting and planning would finally come to a violent and resonant conclusion. Detective Kate Beckett and her boyfriend would soon learn that they were very small fish in an ocean of sharks.


	9. Interlude

**Chapter Nine  
****Interlude**

* * *

_"Whenever I'm weary from the battles that rage in my head  
You make sense of madness when my sanity hangs by a thread  
I lose my way but still you seem to understand  
Now and forever I will be your man._

_Sometimes I just hold you_  
_Too caught up in me to see_  
_I'm holding a fortune that heaven has given to me_  
_I'll try to show you each and every way I can_  
_Now and forever I will be your man_

_Now I can rest my worries and always be sure_  
_That I won't be alone anymore_  
_If I'd only known you were there all the time_  
_All this time_

_Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand_  
_Now and forever I will be your man_  
_Now and forever I will be your man"_

Richard Marx - Now And Forever

* * *

**12th Precinct Squad room  
****1:30 PM**

Kate Beckett and Rick Castle were sitting in their customary places at her desk for the first time in nearly a week. With the Tyson murder case squarely in federal jurisdiction, and no new cases coming in, it was blissfully quiet. Ryan and Espo were debating the pros and cons of the upcoming baseball season, Jenny's cooking, and in more hushed tones, how long Mom and Dad could sit there in such close proximity while she was doing paperwork before they drove each other to distraction. Even before they became a couple, it usually didn't take this long. They were expecting a show, and were thus far today somewhat disappointed.

Beckett was trying very hard to concentrate on her paperwork, which was made quite difficult with the man she adored sitting in the chair next to her desk. She'd had a backlog of paperwork before she had been placed on leave of absence due to Alexis' kidnapping by Jerry Tyson, and then his (as well as her own) subsequent PTSD related issues. She also had to sign off on some of the paperwork that Espo had filed when he had temporarily assumed her duties as lead detective. This had taken her most of the morning, and Rick had been right there, doing...nothing. She found his presence soothing.

Rick, in the meantime had been texting back and forth with Alexis down in the morgue. It always made her smile a little when he went into "dedicated father" mode. It was the side of him that had first clued her in that maybe there was more to him than the playboy image he projected to the world and to her, when he first barged his way into her work life all those years ago. Anyone else would have disappeared, considering how she'd treated him when they'd first met.

Even sitting there quietly texting, he was a distraction to her, only now that she'd truly opened herself to him, she welcomed it. It made her feel truly loved to know that he could come in on a quiet shift just to sit and do nothing while she filed her paperwork. All for no other reason than to spend a few more hours of the day with her. Not for the first time since things had heated up between them, she wondered why she had fought against the love she obviously had for this man. She had been such a fool keeping him at arms length as long as she had. She also knew she owed Josh an apology too, having used him more or less as a shield to protect herself from the man she truly loved.

….

Alexis Castle was at wit's end down in the morgue. She had cataloged all of the remaining personal effects from yesterday ten minutes into her shift. She had chatted with Lanie a bit, mostly about her father's health. (and indirectly Kate's) she texted back and forth with her dad up in the precinct while he watched Kate do her paperwork. She even helped the other CSU employees sterilize instruments, including Lanie's cranial saw, which still creeped her out a little.

It was still good to get out of the house, though. She remembered what cabin fever had driven her father to, and barely contained a shudder at the memory. She didn't want to go there. Her panic attack last week here in the morgue had been bad enough. After that episode, dad (with Kate's help) had gotten her an appointment with Dr. Burke, the NYPD therapist, scheduled for next week. Kate had assured her that he was very good and had helped her with her own issues following her shooting.

She hoped so, because sometimes when she closed her eyes she could still hear those women screaming in her head, and she wanted that screaming to stop. Dr. Burke had prescribed her something mild to help her sleep in the meantime, but she still slept with a light on in her room. Though only after she checked that her closet was empty, no one was under her bed, and her window was securely locked. She hated feeling this way, she wanted to be able to feel safe again at least in her own home.

She kept this from her father, because she knew he would just worry more than he already did, and not take good enough care of himself. For his sake, she sucked it up, and made the effort to go on with the facade of being herself. Secretly she still blamed herself for her father's PTSD episode the other day, and she didn't want to be to blame for her father having another relapse.

….

As Kate dotted the last "i" and crossed the last "t" on her paperwork, Castle rose from his chair and offered, "How about we take Alexis out for a late lunch? She's probably having as slow a day as we have."

Kate was about to decline, but her stomach betrayed her with a low rumble. All she had eaten since breakfast that morning had been half a bag of gummi bears which she had shared with Rick two hours ago, when he'd come back with coffee from the break room. Rick looked down at her with his best "come on Kate" look, and the last of her flagging willpower evaporated. She stood up, took the arm he offered her, and grabbed her jacket on their way out. Still sitting at their desks, Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look of satisfaction between themselves and bumped fists. Mom and dad had survived a day of nothing but paperwork, another milestone.

….

In a surveillance van across from the precinct, John Smith sat watching the feed from the van's external camera facing the door. He had taken it personally that his best friend's son had been shot on his watch. He'd been more vigilant since then, but when someone with knowledge of their comm protocols had waved off the protection detail on Webb's granddaughter, and she'd been taken, he had taken it as a personal affront to his sense of honor.

On his own initiative, he had doubled the detail on Alexis' school and had someone placed inside the ME's office as well. He wouldn't let anything like that happen again.

He and Rick Webb had been friends since they had both survived BUD/s together before shipping out, where they had truly forged their bond of brotherhood in the jungles of Vietnam watching each others back while playing a deadly version of hide and seek with "Charlie." Webb had been with him when he found out his wife and son had been killed in a car accident in 1968, and he had been there for him, when he found out his father had died later that same year. The failed POW extraction that spring had haunted them both enough to accept their current assignment.

They'd mourned each others losses, and reveled in each others successes for over forty four years, and he had secretly been overjoyed to see his friend reconnect with the woman he loved. He'd be damned now that Simon had resurfaced that he'd let that fucking traitor harm his friend's family again. It was time for a little hunting expedition of his own. If he ever found the shitty little Judas, he'd make him wish he'd never been born.

….

Kate, Rick, and Alexis had arrived at Remy's far enough after the lunch rush to have their choice of tables. The waitress led them to a more secluded table at his direction. He wanted a more intimate setting for the after lunch entertainment he had in mind. They'd ordered a large basket of fries for the three of them to share and each had their own burger and shake. The dinner conversation had been kept light. Right on time, Espo and Ryan had showed up with Lanie in tow, complaining about not wanting to interrupt their lunch. He nodded at the owner, who pulled the shades slowly and dimmed the lights.

When Kate muttered "Castle? What's going on?" Alexis slipped the small burgundy box to him under the table, he got down on bended knee, opened it, and said,

"Kate Beckett, will you marry me?"

Kate's eyes were welling up with tears, when she said, "Dear God, yes, Rick." he slipped the ring on her finger and then they kissed. When Lanie picked her jaw up off the floor, she slapped Esposito on the back of his head, then said, "It's about damn time!"

Alexis' cell phone rang, and when she picked up, Martha asked, "Well?" to which Alexis replied, "She said yes!" After which, for once, Martha had no words other than sniffling from the other end of the line.

….

When Martha hung up her cell phone, she took out the burner phone that Webb had given her, which she now carried everywhere, and dialed his number. When he picked up and said "Hello Martha!" She replied, "Richard, I thought you should know that our family is about to get just a little bit bigger."


	10. The Hunters and the Hunted

**Chapter Ten  
**The Hunters and the Hunted

* * *

"_So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong  
Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone  
Everything I am and everything in me  
Wants to be the one you wanted me to be_

_I'll never let you down even if I could_  
_I'd give up everything if only for your good_  
_So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong_  
_You can hold me when I'm scared you won't always be there_  
_So love me when I'm gone, love me when I'm gone"_

3 Doors Down: When I'm gone

* * *

**12th Precinct Squad room  
**May 2nd 2012, 3:30 PM

Kate Beckett's heart was skipping and she could barely keep a thought in her head as she looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. She had compared it to her mother's in the ladies room, and the similarities were striking. Right down to the carat weight of the diamond. When Rick had slipped it onto her finger it nearly took her breath away. He had even been thoughtful enough to remember that she would have to do police work with it on, and eschewed a large rock that would be cumbersome when carrying her pistol. "_That man_," she thought to herself with a dreamy look on her face, "he thinks of everything."

He must have been planning this for weeks to have had all of the details worked out. Especially the part about having Remy's be empty, and having the lights turned down at the appropriate moment. That could not have been a coincidence, nor could arranging to have Ryan and Espo drag Lanie along, who obviously knew nothing about what was going on.

Then there was Alexis, the little scamp, she must have been carrying that box in her bag all day without breathing a word to Lanie. And since Captain Gates hadn't been jumping down her throat for taking a two hour lunch, he must have spoken to her, too. Come to think of it Gates _had _been conspicuously absent from the precinct since they came back.

She looked up from her desk at the two detectives, they waved at her, then went back to work.

"Oh they were in on it all right," she thought to herself, "it's written all over the self satisfied looks on their faces."

She imagined that Lanie would smack that grin right off of Espo's the next time they were alone for not warning her, which put a wicked grin on her face when she thought about it.

When she'd called her father shortly after they returned from lunch around three o'clock he was overjoyed, but not entirely surprised. Rick must have gone to see him, if only to consult him about the ring. Come to think of it, he always had seemed to have a soft spot for Rick, even before her shooting last year. When Castle came back from the break room, coffee cups in hand, the sense of warmth and emotion increased exponentially, threatening to overwhelm her senses. And for once, she didn't care. It felt...right. She took the coffee cups from his hands, set them on her desk and kissed him, and didn't care who saw it either.

**5:00 PM**  
**Castle loft**

When Rick, Kate and Alexis arrived home, a sumptuous dinner was already on the table, and Martha was absolutely radiant. The lunch hour proposal had been her idea, and she had made all of the arrangements with the management at Remy's. The owner had been a big fan, of her stage work and was absolutely thrilled that her son wanted to propose in his place. When Rick had gone to meet Kate's father for lunch to talk about what he had planned, she and Alexis had kept Kate busy "helping" Alexis look at college applications as Martha had "no experience with such things." She had stage managed the entire affair to perfection, while Rick had done the little fine tuning gestures he did so well when it came to Kate Beckett.

As they sat down to dinner, Martha was fawning over Kate looking at the ring, and she was just soaking it all up. She found all the love in the room a little overwhelming, but she kinda liked it. Even Alexis seemed to have perked up a bit, though she still had the dark circles under her eyes that worried them all. She seemed to be trying to cope with her ordeal, and that was the best anyone could hope for.

When she excused herself after dinner and retreated to her room, Rick followed her up. Always the dutiful parent. After he was sure she had changed for bed, Castle knocked on Alexis' door, and poked his head inside.

"Are you ok, pumpkin?" He said, noting her wooden expression.

"I'm happy for you, dad, proposing was a long time coming, and I'm glad that you included me."

"I sense a _but_ coming pumpkin," her father said.

"I'm not who I was before...before...it happened...what if I'm never completely myself again. Everything seems to be changing so fast, dad, I don't know if I can take being lost in the shuffle." Alexis replied, but couldn't look him in the eye as the tears began to come.

Rick moved to her bed, sat down next to her and took her in his arms. "That could never happen, Alexis. No matter what, you'll always be my baby bird. There is no way you would ever be less than my first priority, and nothing will ever change that. It's why your mother gave me custody, and why Gina couldn't deal and left. Kate would never ask me _not_ to put you first, it's one of the many reasons why I love her."

He hugged her tight before getting up, then kissed her forehead and added. "Give it time, if we have to find this new you, then we'll all find her together."

"Good night, dad" she said, feeling a little bit better.

"Good night pumpkin." Rick replied and closed her door.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed Kate was gone, and Martha had a worried expression on her face.

….

**A few minutes earlier:**

As Rick was going up the stairs to say goodnight to Alexis, Kate's cell phone beeped, and she pushed the appropriate button on her phone to reveal the following message:

_If you want to learn the truth  
about your mother meet me  
at your apartment in one hour.  
Come alone._

_V. Simmons_

Her emotions ran the gambit from, shock, disbelief, and anger. She looked up to see Martha looking at her with a concerned expression, and said,

"I need to go back to my apartment, Martha, my dad wants to talk... about this," and showed her the ring, "Tell Rick not to worry, and I'll be back soon." Then put her gun on her belt and left.

When Castle came down the stairs and noticed his mother's confused, worried expression, she said, "Kate had to go to her place to talk to her father, about your proposal. She said not to worry, then dashed out the door."

Rick got a dumbfounded look on his face, and replied, "Her dad told me he was going to be out of town tonight on business. Something isn't right, I'll give her fifteen minutes then go after her. Hopefully I'm just making a big deal out of nothing." He collected the keys to the Ferrari and hurried out the door.

Castle drove like a man possessed, until he reached her apartment building. Her father's truck was nowhere to be seen, but her Crown Victoria was in plain sight in her parking space. He did the only thing he could think of and dialed the number marked "Smith" on his phone.

**Fifteen minutes earlier  
**

Kate pulled into her reserved space and checked her gun again before heading inside. She un-holstered her service weapon and took the stairs instead of the elevator. When she arrived at her floor, she noticed that her door was ajar, and she headed for it with her pistol at the ready. She carefully pushed the door open and stepped slowly inside, only to hear the click of a safety and a silencer brush against her temple.

"Two fingers, detective," said a man's voice she didn't recognize, "drop it and kick it out the door, please, the backup piece too, if you don't mind." She did as she was told, closed her apartment door, and raised her hands above her head.

She was none too gently shoved up against the wall and searched roughly. Her hands were then harshly cinched behind her back with her own handcuffs, then shoved bodily onto her couch, where her ankles were secured together with zip straps. She squirmed against her restraints, but she was going nowhere.

"Mr. Simmons wanted you to know that because you so thoroughly amused him the last time you met, that he has decided to kill you last, Detective Beckett." He said. "We won't make the same mistake our predecessors made with your mother, or with you last time. Your boyfriend and his family will be taken care of as well."

"No..." she moaned quietly to herself as she renewed her vain resistance to her restraints. A single tear flowing down her cheek.

….

Castle couldn't wait any longer, the number for Smith had obviously been disconnected after their last meeting. He grabbed his vest marked "Writer" out of Beckett's car, put it on, then replaced his black leather jacket over top of it. He only wished he was overreacting.

He rode the elevator up, which seemed to take forever to arrive at her floor. As soon as he exited and got halfway down her hallway, he saw her service weapon and backup piece on the floor outside her door, which caused him to stiffen. He picked them up, slid her .380 into his coat pocket, and quietly chambered a round in her Glock. Her door was unlocked. He dropped to one knee and slowly pushed it open. A man was standing over Kate holding a silenced pistol in one hand and using the other to talk on a cell phone. He rose to his feet, and brought Kate's gun up to sight on him...

Kate was still vainly struggling against her restraints, knowing she had no chance to get loose when she heard Castle's voice shout as loud and full of cold malice as she'd ever heard it.

"**Get away from her you son of a bitch**!"

Followed almost immediately by three rounds from her primary service weapon in quick succession. The man's head exploded as all three rounds struck home, and he dropped dead to the floor in a heap. She turned and saw Rick still pointing her gun at the body on the floor. After his shock wore off, he ran up to the couch and rummaged in her pockets for her keys.

"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" he said with obvious concern in his voice as he unlocked her handcuffs.

"I am now," she replied , "Rick, wait, they were going after you next!"

Rick handed her the folding knife he had in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone while she cut her ankles free. When he dialed Martha, and then Alexis but got no answer he dialed the loft's land-line.

When the machine picked up, he shouted, "Mom, Alexis, if you can hear me, _**get out of the house, NOW!**_"

….

There had been a loud hammering on the front door and it was unceremoniously forced from the hinges. Martha had heard Rick over the answering machine, and hid with a terrified Alexis in the back closet upstairs. Four masked men entered and began a methodical search of the first floor of the apartment. After their sweep turned up nothing they stacked up at the bottom of the stairwell, but got no further. The chattering of a silenced MP5 dropped all four of them at the base of the stairs.

"Martha Rodgers!" Smith said in an authoritative voice, "My name is John Smith. I was sent by Rick Webb to keep an eye on you. I'm here to help!"

"How do I know you aren't one of them?" Martha shot back.

"Good girl." Smith thought.

"Because I'm with him." Rick Webb said, as he marched through the door.

Upon hearing his voice, Martha appeared at the top of the stairs with Alexis in tow, and said "Thank God, Rick, when Richard called on the house phone, and then the front door broke in I thought the worst!"

She ran down the stairs and embraced him. He hugged her back and then extended his hand to a still frightened Alexis.

"Hello Alexis," he said, "you're looking much better than the last time I saw you."

John slid a fresh clip into his MP5, engaged the bolt and said, "Come on, old buddy, when these guys don't check in, there may be more coming."

As they began to leave, one of the assassin's radios crackled to life. A voice Rick hadn't heard in twenty years was on the other end asking for an update.

Rick bent over, picked up the earpiece, and hit the send button. "Simon?" He said in a dark menacing tone dripping with pent up rage, "I suggest you run. As far and as fast as you can, because once I've seen to everyone's safety, I _will_ be coming for you."

There was deathly silence on the other end of the line when he released the call button.

As they finally headed to the door, he said, "We'll go to my office, it'll be safe enough there 'till we can figure something else out. Smith, call my son and let him know that Martha and Alexis are safe, and he should find someplace to hole up 'till we can arrange for some backup."

….

Once they had reached the safety of his office he ordered his secretary to go home early for the day. After which he picked up his secure phone and dialed a number from memory.

"NCIS Washington DC office," said the voice on the other end.

"Special Agent Gibbs, please, it's urgent." Webb said into the line.

When Gibbs picked up, Webb said, "Gibbs, it's Richard Webb. I need your help..."

Once he got off the phone with Gibbs, he dialed another number on his secure line.

"Patuxent River Naval Air Station"

Rick's voice took on a harder, more authoritative edge, and said "Marine guard barracks please."

"Pax River Marine Barracks, Sgt Major Davis speaking"

"Sgt Major, put your C.O. on the line" He said, and waited for the Sgt Major to comply.

"Lt. Colonel Jessup" the Marine guard commander said.

"Colonel, this is a National Command Authority requisition order." and rattled off the necessary code.

When he finished, Lt. Colonel Jessup replied, "I need your command authorization."

"Nemesis Rising" Webb said.

"What do you need sir?" Jessup replied tersely.

"I need two Seahawks and two squads of your best men, equipped for night action, full arms. I need them sent to the following location." then gave him the GPS coordinates for his office.

" I have civilians that need immediate dust-off and then a deployment to a location to be specified upon arrival. Get it done, mister."

"Aye Aye, sir." Came the immediate reply.

….

When Rick and Kate arrived at the loft, they were met by Ryan and Esposito whom Kate had called from the passenger seat of the Ferrari. With Martha and Alexis safe for the time being, Rick had one thing on his mind, and that was for all of them to live long enough to see them again.

"Why are we meeting here? Espo asked, Shouldn't we be holing up somewhere?"

"I've been saving up a few things for a rainy day," Rick said, "we may need em tonight."

They followed him into his office, where he opened his closet. After pushing the clothes hanging in it aside, he revealed a locked panel. He punched a combination into the panel, and removed the plate.

"I had this put in after Kate was shot, and began putting together some things we might need in case those guys made another go of it." Then pulled out four 30 round magazines. "Some armor piercing for your artillery, Espo." he said.

Espo looked at Rick suspiciously, but ejected the magazine on his M4 and worked the bolt. Then slid in one of the magazines he'd been given and pulled back on the charging lever. Castle then pulled out two riot shotguns and handed one each to Ryan and Becket along with two boxes of shells. Lastly he removed a Sig Sauer 9mm for himself.

"Castle." Kate began, "how did you manage all of this?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I called in a few favors and a couple of old gambling markers. Agent Shaw was most helpful in getting me a federal pistol permit, by the way, so you won't have to arrest me later for carrying concealed."

Kate looked over at Espo and said, "You have more experience with this kinda thing, Javi, suggestions?"

"Manhattan is too crowded, we need someplace more remote, where we can see em coming."He replied. Kate and Rick looked at each other and said in unison, "The Hamptons"

Ryan and Espo shared a knowing look, at that, then Kate said, "Let's move."

….

Simon Anderson pounded his fist on his desk. Beckett had escaped the trap he'd laid. Castle and his family had also slipped the net with the help of Archangel and his man Smith. He and Smith will be coming after him soon, the radio message he'd heard had left no doubt about that. He was about to become the hunted very soon.

The window to eliminate Beckett and Castle was narrowing swiftly. He made a few discrete phone calls to his people in the NYPD and found that they had recently crossed the toll booth on the Trogg's Neck Bridge and were headed toward the Long Island Expressway.

"I have them now." He said to himself.


	11. Battle of the Hamptons

**Chapter Eleven  
**Battle of The Hamptons

* * *

"_It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie  
The moment to live and the moment to die  
The moment to fight, the moment to fight  
To fight, to fight, to fight_

To the right, to the left  
We will fight to the death  
To the edge of the earth  
It's a brave new world from the last to the first

To the right, to the left  
We will fight to the death  
To the edge of the earth  
It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world"

30 Seconds to Mars: This Is War

* * *

The Hamptons**  
**Rick Castle's beach house

9:30 PM

They had pulled into the driveway of his beach house less than an hour ago, and had boarded up all of the first floor windows with the storm-proofing supplies Rick kept in the basement. Rick and Esposito were busying themselves removing anything from the yard that could be used as cover from their fields of fire to the driveway. They had even pulled Espo's Crown Vic around to the back and into the garage. This left Rick and Kate a few minutes to be alone, as they had intended.

Castle and Beckett were sitting in the living room when the shakes finally hit him. He had never killed anyone before, he'd wounded one or two, but that had been different. Kate held him close, trying to help him work through it. It had been much the same for her the first time, and she'd had Royce to help her back then.

As he recovered his composure, Rick looked her in the eye with just a tint of anger and said, "What possessed you to go off alone like that, Kate?" with just a bit more ice in his tone than he'd intended, "You could have been killed!"

Kate bristled for a moment, but then anger to shame as she looked down at her shoes, before replying, "I know Rick, I know, I'm sorry, but when the text from Vulcan Simmons mentioned my mother, I..."

"I know," Rick said, "It pushed all the old buttons in you." and pulled her close again.

"Thank you for seeing through my flimsy excuse and coming anyway," she said, with tears forming in her eyes, "when he said they were going after you, and were going to make me listen, I..." and she began to break down.

Rick put a finger to her lips and merely said, "Always." then pulled her into a kiss, which she returned passionately.

A moment later, the power went out. Ryan and Espo burst into the house shortly thereafter, as four large vans could be seen pulling up the long driveway and stopped just outside of the range of everyone but Esposito. Everyone else inside the house grabbed their weapons and picked a window, as he ran upstairs, and opened up on the mercs at two hundred yards with his night scoped M4. Two men dropped in the evening darkness with obvious head wounds, and the rest took cover.

Espo yelled down to them, "Stay sharp, people, they're going to try to flank us!"

And with that, automatic weapons fire erupted from outside.

….

The two HH60H Sea Hawks had arrived over the roof of Rick's office building. As the empty helicopter moved in to land on the rooftop helipad, the other orbited the building, sweeping the roof with searchlights. As the landing Sea Hawk flared and it's wheels touched the deck, Rick Sr. and John Smith escorted Martha and Alexis to the opening cargo door, and helped them aboard.

Rick ran around to the pilot's door opened it, and shouted, "I'm Commander Webb, when you take off head straight for the Washington DC naval yard, no stops. I've arranged mid-air refueling via KC-135. Once you're in the air, move like you have a purpose!"

"Aye Aye, sir" The pilot replied with a smart salute.

As Rick pulled back from the helicopter, he turned to Smith, "Go with them, when they get to the Navy Yard in DC speak only with Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS. Tell him to have the base commander lock down the Navy Yard to ground traffic until further notice."

Smith nodded. He had long since accepted personal responsibility for Webb's family, and he had his orders. He would see this through to the end. Before he climbed aboard, he clasped his friend's hand and said, "You might need these for your BDU's, old buddy."

When Rick opened his hand and saw two silver oak leaf pins and a Seal trident, which he quickly applied to the appropriate locations on his BDU's. He and Smith saluted each other crisply, Smith climbed aboard and the cargo door slid shut.

Rick moved back to the pilot's door, and saluted again. The pilot saluted back crisply and the helicopter lifted quickly from the pad. It turned gracefully to the south, toward Washington DC and gained altitude as the orbiting helicopter moved in over the now vacant helipad.

….

The house was not faring well under the withering fire coming from the mercs outside. Every window facing the driveway was shattered, furniture was broken or torn with bullet holes as the assault continued.

Esposito was doing his level best to keep the mercs away from the house, but there were too many, and they were too well trained. Twice, the mercs penetrated the house, and twice they had been thrown back by concentrated fire from Beckett's shotgun, and Castle's pistol.

Ryan was holding his own despite this being the worst gun battle he had ever seen. His left arm had been grazed in the second breach by the mercs, Castle had done his best to stop the bleeding, but the bandages still oozed red. With single minded purpose, he continued to hammer away with his shotgun at any merc who got too close.

Rick moved between the two of them, reloading for both Ryan and Kate, and doing his best to provide moral support, not to mention backup with his pistol, which he had since dubbed "Wynonna." This had made Kate smile when he said it, in spite of their dire circumstances.

Ammunition was, however beginning to run short. Espo's M4 was the first to run dry.

"I'm out," he called out as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs, having drawn his sidearm for the first time since the engagement began.

"My shotgun's out too." Ryan said.

Kate tossed him a box with four shells in it, and said "Make them count!"

Espo tapped Rick on the shoulder and said, "We can't stay here!"

"The storm cellar." Rick said, and nodded toward the trap door in the middle of the room.

Espo relieved Ryan of his shotgun, and said "One at a time, everybody pull back to the door, I'll cover you!"

One by one the others dropped down the trapdoor to the reinforced storm cellar, followed quickly by Esposito who pulled the trapdoor shut and engaged the bolt to hold it there. They could hear the mercenaries regrouping as their leader shouted orders and a helicopter buzzed over the house. Espo looked at Ryan, then at Castle and Kate and said with calm finality, "They're being reinforced, there's no way we can hold them now. I guess this is it."

Castle looked up to him, put out his hand and said, "It's been a privilege, Javier."

Espo took the hand Castle offered and replied, "Likewise, Rick."

"We go out together then," Ryan added, "fitting."

If this is it, I couldn't ask for better company." Rick said, as he took Kate in his arms and kissed her. When their lips parted, they touched their foreheads together.

Kate said, "Together then, as it should be."

….

Webb tapped the pilot after he had buzzed the house, and said, "Deploy second squad right behind those parked vehicles. Then deploy myself and first squad over by those rocks."

"Aye, Aye, Commander." the pilot replied.

"Sargent Major, On my order, hit their back ranks and I'll flank them and nail the coffin shut. Then you make for the house."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Davis said, then passed him the copilot's M4 carbine. "You may need this, sir."

Webb nodded his thanks and accepted the M4 and two magazines, sliding the latter into the pouches in his webgear.

"Lock and load, everyone, good hunting." He ordered.

Upon hearing that order, both squads of Marines pulled back on the charging levers on their rifles nearly in unison. Shortly thereafter, Sgt Major Davis yelled, "Second squad, you heard the Commander and you know the drill, assholes and elbows! Semper Fi!"

"Hoo-_rah_! came the reply as Sgt Major Davis and the four men of Second squad hooked on their zip lines and disappeared over the side. The helicopter flared and then landed by the rocks further up the beach.

"First squad, on me!" Webb shouted, and the four Marines with him deployed cleanly from the helicopter like the professionals they were. Webb gave the signal and they headed for the beach house.

….

Several tense minutes went by as the occupants of the cellar waited for the final push. The silence was soon broken by automatic weapons fire from what sounded like every direction, then almost as quickly as it had begun, everything had gone silent. Everyone tensed up, but the silence continued, until it was broken by a loud knock on the double doors leading outside.

The knock was quickly followed by a loud, authoritative voice who called down, "This is Sergeant Major Raymond Davis, United States Marine Corps! Is Richard Castle in the house?"

Rick slid open the bolt holding the cellar doors closed, which were quickly pulled open from outside, and said, "That would be me."

"There is somebody out here who would like to speak with you, sir." Davis said.

As Castle poked his head out of the cellar doors and into the night air, a somewhat familiar voice said, "It's been a while since we last met, son."

Castle looked incredulously at him and said, "You have a habit of showing up at just the right time."

"A man does what he must when his family is on the line." Webb replied.

"What?" Rick said, in a confused tone.

"What kind of father would I be if I left my only son die out here before his wedding?"

"Say what?" Rick said again, still not getting it.

"Richard, I'm your father." Webb said. Almost relieved to hear the words come out of his own mouth.

"I think I need to sit down." Rick said, and nearly fell back down the cellar steps, until Kate took his arm and eased him down onto one of the stairs.

….

Martha sat behind Gibbs' desk in the main office at NCIS headquarters, nervously looking at her watch wondering how long it would take before she heard anything. She was absentmindedly turning the burner cell over and over in her hands. She had never been particularly good at waiting. Especially since she knew that her son, ad the man she loved were in obvious danger.

"Can I get you something, ma'am?" Tony DiNozzo asked, "Some coffee perhaps?"

"Coffee would be nice, young man, but if you call me ma'am again, I just might have to hit you, please just call me Martha." she replied sweetly.

Alexis was sitting nearby at one of the computers being entertained by an enigmatic young woman named Abby, who was busy showing her computer related things she obviously had no knowledge of. It seemed to be helping her pass the time. Though she hoped that Alexis wouldn't pick up any of her taste in clothes.

Agent David was alternating between pacing from window to window, chatting aimlessly with Agent DiNozzo in a way that seemed reminiscent of how her son and Kate used to interact early in their relationship. There was a deep sorrow in her eyes when Agent David looked at her. Martha saw an old pain there. She'd obviously seen way too much for someone so young, which also reminded her of Kate. The two agents seemed to be dancing awkwardly around a topic they were both trying to avoid.

Suddenly the burner phone rang, and she flipped it open, feeling relief mixed with a foreboding sense of dread...

….

Rick seemed to have gone into vapor lock, his mind was spinning off kilter trying to process what he'd been told. The last time Kate had seen him like this, was just after Sophia had hit him with her revelation about his father, and then was shot dead. It was the one time he wasn't at her side when danger beckoned. She looked across the room at him sympathetically.

"Please tell me you really are his father, and not just toying with him," she pleaded, with tears welling in her eyes. "the last person who dropped this bomb on him hurt him terribly."

"You mean Sophia Turner?" he replied, "Don't remind me, I introduced them. Yes, I really am his father, feel free to ask Martha once we get you out of here."

"If you're going after Simmons, count me in," Kate said in a dark angry tone, "he has much to answer for."

"You mean Simon? I know he does, Detective Beckett," Webb replied, "for more than you know, but my son needs you more. The innocent people of New York need you more."

"What are you planning to do?" she asked.

"What I should have done twenty years ago." Webb replied. "Sanction with extreme prejudice. If I'd been allowed to do my job back then, your mother might be alive today."

"But what about justice?" she asked sharply.

"He will _never_ be answerable to the justice you seek, Kate. He's too well connected and knows how to disappear, I know, I taught him." and then a more somber, sorrowful look shrouded his features, "You don't want to turn into me, Kate. I gave up everything I loved trying to avenge ghosts that are dead and gone, please, don't make the same mistake. Marry my son, and be happy, believe me, it's what your mother would have really wanted."

An angry retort began in Kate's throat, but died there as he continued, "I know, because I want the same for my son and my granddaughter. Let me deal with Simon, and the people who are shielding him. Consider it a down payment on a wedding present."

He then turned walked over to Castle, put a hand under his elbow to help him up and said, "Come on son, your mother and Alexis need you back on your feet. I called to give them the all clear, they should be back from DC in a few hours."

"Thanks...dad." Castle replied.


	12. Of Dragons and Knights Errant

**Chapter Twelve  
**Of Dragons and Knights Errant

* * *

"_I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord  
I've been waiting for this moment, all my life, Oh Lord  
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord, Oh Lord_

Well, if you told me you were drowning  
I would not lend a hand  
I've seen your face before my friend  
But I don't know if you know who I am  
Well, I was there and I saw what you did  
I saw it with my own two eyes  
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been  
It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord  
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, Oh Lord  
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord  
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, Oh Lord, Oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember don't worry  
How could I ever forget, it's the first time, the last time we ever met  
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, no you don't fool me  
The hurt doesn't show; but the pain still grows  
It's no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord..."

Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight

* * *

**May 4th, 2012**  
**3:30 PM**

Simon Anderson needed to disappear, fast. Since dawn, his paper shredder had been running overtime. When the bin filled, he dumped the shredded paper into the large fireplace in his office. He had no intention of leaving a paper trail for "Archangel" to follow. When he had used the Vulcan Simmons identity to purchase a set of decoy tickets he had no intention of using he had been mildly surprised to learn that name wasn't on a no-fly, or watch list.

"Old man must be slipping in his dotage." he thought to himself.

His actual plane tickets to Argentina purchased under a clean identity he kept handy for such exits were in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, along with a passport and travel documents carefully constructed to be perfectly legitimate. He would, of course, switch to another set upon arrival, and disappear like smoke in a light breeze. He had done this more than once in the last twenty years.

He finished his self-assigned tasks at his paper shredder, fireplace and the destruction of his computer's hard drive, and prepared to move out. After receiving the courtesy call from the limousine service he had hired to take him to the airport, he grabbed the small travel bag he always kept packed for such occasions and headed for the door of the small office building without so much as a backward look.

"I'll be back Detective Beckett, enjoy what remains of your short life." he thought to himself. He so despised loose ends, and looked forward to cutting this one once and for all.

The doorman opened the passenger door of the limo and he climbed inside. When the door was closed behind him, he tapped on the mirrored partition and it slowly slid down.

"JFK International," he said autocratically, "there's an extra hundred in it for you if you can beat the rush hour traffic."

The driver removed his cap, turned, and pointed a silenced pistol at his head.

"Keep the C-note, Simon," Webb said coldly, "you'll need it to pay the ferryman on your way to hell."

"Archangel!" Simon blurted out in shock.

"Actually, the name is Webb, Richard Webb." followed by two silenced pistol shots.

Simon Anderson toppled over in the back of the limo, and was dead before his body slid from the seat to the floor. Webb raised the partition and grinned a little to himself. Not at the prospect of killing another in a long line of people, even one as evil as the man whose body now decorated the floor of the limo's passenger area.

"I've always wanted to say that." he said to himself, as he put the car in drive and began to pull out into traffic.

Though he had always hated the "shaken not stirred" types he'd had to deal with over the years in covert ops, he had an even deeper secret he'd kept, even from John Smith. He found the James Bond movies to be a guilty pleasure. After savoring that moment of gallows humor, he hit the speed dial button for Smith on his cell phone. When the line picked up, Smith said, "Target neutralized."

"All right, old friend," Webb replied, "implement omega protocol, Project Archangel dies tonight. See to it that all of our people land on their feet. Make the appropriate recommendations on their files."

"Consider it done." Smith replied.

The next day, the following articles appeared in various newspapers in the Metro New York area:

**On page one of the New York Times (below the fold):**

U.S. Senator Albert Oxbridge, R NY was found dead in his uptown Manhattan apartment today, the victim of an apparent accidental overdose of prescription sleeping pills. He had recently been named as a possible candidate to replace Robert Bowman on the Republican ticket for Vice President. He was aged 45. His wife, who is currently in seclusion has announced her intention to fill his senate seat until the elections in two years.

**On page six of the New York Daily News:**

A man tentatively identified as Vulcan Simmons, was found dead in an alley in the heights yesterday. Though nothing has yet been confirmed, sources within the NYPD Organized Crime Task Force, on condition of anonymity, have linked him to the Medellin Drug Cartel in Columbia.

He was also a person of interest in the murders of FBI undercover Agent Robert Armen in 1996, and civil rights attorney Johanna Beckett in 1999. Both were found in the same alley where Simmons was subsequently discovered. He was also a person of interest in the attempted assassination of NYPD Detective Katherine Beckett last year. So far, NYPD homicide detectives have found no suspects and have attributed his death to random gang violence.

**On Page Four of Stars and Stripes:**

U.S. Navy Captain Richard A. Webb has agreed to come out of retirement to accept a promotion to Rear Admiral Lower half, and an appointment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff following the sudden passing of Vice Admiral Joseph Brown. A decorated UDT diver and Navy SEAL in Vietnam, Webb has served as a consultant to the White House on matters of National Security in the war on terror. He is expected to attend the wedding of his son, Richard Castle in June.

….

The operation in the Hamptons was later explained away by the U.S. Marine Corps as a training exercise to gain publicity for the upcoming fleet week. They thanked mystery novelist Richard Castle for allowing them to use his beachfront property as a landing zone for the exercise and issued a letter of apology for the unintentional damage done to his beach house. They had offered to pay for the damage, but he refused, citing "It was so cool to see them in action, and I was going to redecorate, anyway."

Oddly enough, the residents of The Hamptons petitioned for a repeat performance for the Fourth of July weekend, which the Marine Corps, always eager for good publicity, graciously accepted.


	13. Forever and Always

**Chapter Thirteen  
**Forever and Always.

* * *

"_What if I told you  
It was all meant to be  
Would you believe me,  
Would you agree  
It's almost that feelin'  
That we've met before  
So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy  
When I tell you love has come and now_

A moment like this  
Some people wait a lifetime,  
For a moment like this  
Some people search forever,  
For that one special kiss  
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me  
Some people wait a lifetime,  
For a moment like this"

Kelly Clarkson: A Moment Like This

* * *

**You are cordially invited to celebrate**

**The wedding of **

**Katherine Elaine Beckett**

**and  
**

**Richard Edgar Castle**

**On Saturday, June 16th **

**at four o'clock**

**followed by a reception.**

Kate was sitting at her changing table in the back of the chapel looking at her reflection in the mirror, and hardly recognizing herself. She was truly dolled up for this occasion, her hair immaculately styled and her makeup professionally done. Her auburn hair was pinned into the veil she now wore. It hit her in this moment that she had not been this dressed up since her mother's funeral. She blinked back tears at this realization. At that moment there was a knock at the door and Lanie poked her head inside.

"Your dad is here," she said, "and girlfriend, if you tear up now and ruin your mascara Imma smack you!"

After this statement, she held the door open to admit Jim Beckett into the room.

"Are you ready, Katie?" He asked, in a hushed tone, full of brimming emotion.

"Yes, dad, I am." Kate replied.

When Jim Beckett beheld his smiling daughter, wearing her mother's wedding dress, it took his breath away. He said the first thing that popped into his head.

"I only with your mother could see you now, Katie. You are absolutely radiant." then hugged her and kissed her cheek, then rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small blue box. "You have something old, something new, and something borrowed. You just need something blue."

He opened the rectangular box, revealing a necklace with a stunning sapphire pendant.

"I had bought this for your mother for our anniversary, but I never got the chance to give it to her. I think it's only appropriate to give it to you on your wedding day instead." and then stepped behind her to clasp it around her neck.

Kate looked into her father's face, and thought she was going to cry for a moment before he moved to the door, offered his arm as the organist began to play the bridal anthem.

"Katie, dear, I think they're playing our song."

Kate took his arm, and they walked out into the corridor and headed for the entrance to the sanctuary.

….

Where Richard's proposal had been small and understated, the wedding had all of the pomp and flair that Martha Rogers could muster. She had pulled out all of the stops, from the re-tailoring of Kate's mothers wedding dress to the pink taffeta of the bridesmaids dresses. No expense had been spared to give their wedding all of the luster of a fairy tale.

The wedding guests ran the spectrum of of New York society. From Mayor Weston and some of Rick's writer friends, to beat cops whom Kate and Rick had rubbed shoulders with on several cases over the years. Meredith sat in the back row, dressed to the nines, but nursing what appeared to be a massive hangover mixed with jet lag. Across the aisle from her sat Gina with her latest boyfriend, who seemed to have the look of a deer in the headlights. The one time the two caught each others eye, they looked daggers at each other. A couple rows farther forward, Kyra sat with her husband, chatting about politics with John Smith.

Rick was standing in the customary position for the groom for the third time in his life. (the last time if he and Kate had anything to say about it) He was flanked by his groomsmen, Javi and Kevin.

Richard Webb sat in the front row with Martha wearing his finest dress whites with all of his ribbons on display. Their hands were clasped together and they looked into each others eyes with a sense of completion neither had known in their son's entire lifetime.

Alexis was sitting flanked by the string quartet just finishing a stirring rendition of "The Wedding Song (There is love)" on her violin. She had been practicing it almost obsessively for weeks. As the string quartet played a brief interlude, she hurried to the back of the sanctuary and took her place alongside Lanie as they awaited Kate and her father at the entrance.

When the organist began to play Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" Kate and her father appeared at the entrance to the sanctuary. when Rick caught sight of her in her wedding dress for the first time, his breath caught in his throat, and his heart skipped a beat. She had always been beautiful to him, but as she strode down the aisle dressed all in white lace on her father's arm, she looked absolutely angelic.

"Bam, said the lady..." he muttered to himself, not noticing that he had said it loud enough for the boys to hear. They shared a look, and bumped fists behind his back.

As she moved up to him, his father stepped aside, and they clasped hands, Castle's mind flashed to all they had gone through together to bring them to this moment. All of the joys and sorrows they had shared together, tragedies they had endured, joys they had shared. He knew he could never again see himself or envision his future without this amazing woman in his life.

Esposito brushed his arm gently to bring him back to the moment, as the Minister began to speak the words:

"Dearly beloved, We are gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to unite this man, and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony..."

The ceremony was beautiful. From the exchange of vows, to the exchange of the simple gold bands that they had chosen together. Each one had inscribed on the inside a single word.

"Always"

The minister then closed the ceremony with, "For as much as Richard and Kate have consented together in holy wedlock, by the authority invested in me by God and the State of New York, I now pronounce that they are husband and wife. Those that God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

They looked deeply into each others eyes as the minister said the final words, "You may kiss the bride." When Rick lifted Kate's veil and they kissed, the entire world for the two of them, disappeared.

Near the back row, three seats over from Meredith, sat Ziva David, and Tony DiNozzo. Tears were flowing nearly without pause down her cheeks as she held Tony's hand during the service. Tony complained of having something in his eye, and without removing her gaze from the happy couple, she handed him a Kleenex from her purse.

As the newly wed Richard and Kate Castle moved swiftly together back up the aisle to the tune of Felix Mendelssohn's Wedding March and exited the front door, they passed through the NYPD honor guard led by a newly promoted Sergeant Velasquez and supervised by Captain Victoria Gates, both in their dress blues.

As they passed between each opposing pair of officers they saluted, and Sgt. Velasquez escorted them to their waiting limo and opened the door. What was once separated and broken, was now together and whole. Where both had once been incomplete, there was now sweet union.


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

_"Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you  
I'm not alone, tell me you feel it too_

_And I would run away_  
_I would run away, yeah, yeah_  
_I would run away_  
_I would run away with you_

_'Cause I am falling in love with you_  
_No never, I'm never gonna stop_  
_Falling in love with you_

_Close the door, lay down upon the floor_  
_And by candlelight, make love to me through the night_  
_(through the night)_

_'Cause I have run away_  
_I have run away, yeah, yeah_  
_I have run away, run away_  
_I have run away with you_

_'Cause I am falling in love (falling in love) with you_  
_No never, I'm never gonna stop_  
_Falling in love with you_  
_With you_

_And I would runaway_  
_I would runaway, yeah, yeah_  
_I would runaway (runaway)_  
_I would runaway with you_

_'Cause I am falling in love (falling in love) with you_  
_No never, I'm never gonna stop_  
_Falling in love with you"_

The Corrs: Runaway

* * *

Rick and Kate spent their week-long honeymoon in the newly restored beach house in The Hamptons. They were hardly ever seen outdoors for the better part of that week, and only to walk the beach at sunset. The few people who saw them noted that they looked blissfully happy.

Martha and Alexis spent that week in Washington DC as the guests Richard Webb and attended the ceremony as he accepted his post to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Alexis was escorted to this event by a young Annapolis cadet who was the epitome of professionalism and respect, mixed with a very healthy amount of fear of her grandfather, as he should be. She found him to be quite charming as he fawned over her.

When Richard Webb was not taking the two of them out to dinner in style, he spent much of the time giving Alexis a guided historic tour of the Nation's Capital. She even got to meet the President of the United States briefly. Rank definitely had it's privileges.

Though there were some initial tensions between Richard Castle and his formerly estranged father, he eventually came to understand and respect him for the sacrifices he had made to protect his country. Though the cool factor of having a Navy Rear Admiral and former secret agent for a dad did tend to smooth things over in that regard.

It took most of that summer in therapy sessions with Dr. Burke, but eventually Alewxis began to slowly come to terms with her ordeal at the hands of Jerry Tyson. Though some lingering fears still plagued her, at least the dreams began to fade as she slowly but surely began to pick up the pieces of her life and move forward.

It was this newly empowered Alexis Castle who began classes at Columbia University with a double major in Criminal Justice and Forensic Medicine. Though the adjustment to college life was difficult initially, she bonded with her roommate, Rosie Freeman who was also studying Criminal Justice with an eye toward entering the NYPD Police Academy. Together the two fast friends soldiered on and endured.

On a crisp May morning in 2013, Kate gave birth to their first child together. A girl whom they named Johanna Marie Castle. Much to the delight of Kate's father.

As time marched slowly by, Detective Kate Castle was promoted to Captain, and took over command of the 12th Precinct when Victoria Gates accepted the position of Chief of Detectives. She and her husband Rick still solved cases together but less and less frequently as their small family grew. Though the Nikki Heat series of books soon gave way to a series involving a Navy Seal turned spy hunter based upon his father's exploits, Kate didn't seem to mind. She knew deep down that she was still his one and only muse.

Simon Anderson's star on the CIA memorial in Langley, Virginia was quietly removed with little fanfare. In it's place, one was added commemorating the sacrifice Robert Armen made for his country in the line of duty in a ceremony led by the Deputy Director of Intelligence, John Smith, and Rear Admiral Richard Webb. It seemed fitting to the two of them that his name be erased forever from the public record.

After a long and hot blooded courtship, Lanie Parrish and Javier Esposito were married in the fall of 2016 With Kevin Ryan acting as best man. To the delight of everyone in attendance, little Johanna Castle acted as flower girl.

Later that same year, twelve names were added to the Vietnam War Memorial to honor the sacrifices of the men who had died in the failed rescue mission Richard and Smith had led in 1968. With the full cooperation of the Vietnamese government, the the site of the camp was located, and the subsequent excavation recovered the remains of eight of the twelve men. Their remains were identified, and interred with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. It was Richard Webb's last official act before once again retiring from public life, electing to spend his remaining years with his wife Martha.

In late April of 2017, the entire Castle family was invited to the wedding of Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in New York Harbor. Alexis Castle caught the bouquet.

**The End**


End file.
